


Frozen Hearts

by HeatsH67



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl & Platinum | Pokemon Diamond Pearl Platinum Versions
Genre: Civil War, F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Human/Pokemon Relationship(s), Hurt/Comfort, Major Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Pokemon Journey, Pokemon Training, Politics, Sacrifice, Yandere
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28940919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeatsH67/pseuds/HeatsH67
Summary: In the midst of an economic depression, a homeless young adult scavenges through Sinnoh's north looking for rare ores to sell. There, he encounters a dangerous Pokemon which he inexplicably befriends. In the midst of a region on the brink of civil war, can this adult and Pokemon finally find the true companionship they both long for? [Froslass/Human]
Relationships: Guzma (Pokemon)/Original Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. Collector

"If I'm not mistaken, Professor Rowan wants to meet you in Veilstone City."

Tamar glanced up at his coffee in surprise, his eyebrow raised and attention caught.

"And why would that be?" he queried, tones of interest penetrating from his voice.

"Well, anyone that can tightly befriend a Pokemon labeled ' _cataclysmic danger'_ from the Sinnoh government makes them an anomaly, in a certain sense. From what he told me, he wants to interview you, get a better sense of human-pokemon interactions, figure out what makes you special..." replied Candice, sipping from her own coffee as well. Tamar rolled his eyes, slumping back into his chair, previous curiosity extinguished.

"I didn't do anything, I just happened to stumble across the one Froslass that happened to not murder me. I'm not sure what the top professor in the region wishes to accomplish through a meeting, other than maybe positive press for him." theroized Tamar, tapping his fingers on the walnut coloured table the two were sitting at. Before Candice could reply, he jumped back up.

"And plus, Veilstone? Why would anyone not from the East want to stay anywhere near Veilstone? Doesn't the ESLF run that city, why would the professor even consider going there?" Candice sighed.

"I doubt the ESLF would do anything... unsavoury... to Mr. Rowan, even a terrorist cell like them need to stay in the good graces of those they're trying to recruit, and threatening a beloved professor's life ain't the best recruitment tool."

"They have simple one track minds, Candice. Westerner equals bad, easterner equals good. Rowan's from Twinleaf, that's all the justification they need to go blow up his limo or something," Tamar curtly responded, picking up his coffee for another sip. "I'm in no mood to put my or Aspy's well being for such a trivial thing. If he wants to talk, tell him to phone me or something."

Candice rolled her eyes at the blunt human she was communicating with. He was still the same hard headed Tamar she had grown to know over the past year.

"You know Mr. Rowan is old fashioned. Plus, meeting with him could get you some more positive press in the media..." Tamar grumbled at the mere suggestion of the media, his fingers gripping a little bit more tighter around his beverage.

"The media can kiss my ass, they'll hate me regardless."

"You have quite the intriguing come up story, who knows why the media loves to drag you around. Well, most of it's because you're a douchebag, but still." grinned Candice, much to the ire of Tamar.

"Homeless POC somehow doesn't die from Froslass, becomes famous, almost gets head blown off by ESLF. Yeah, Virbank could run with this shit." Sarcastically quipped Tamar, his gaze slowly drifting down to his hot beverage.

Yes... quite a come up story indeed...

* * *

Look, Snowpoint had a reputation for freezing temperatures, chilly wind, and hazardous blizzards, but this was just absurd.

The icy wind howled all around Tamar, producing a grating whistling sound that gave him shivers to his core. Or maybe the shiver was from the blizzard he was attempting to navigate. Alas, he trekked forward, teeth gritted and eyes squinting. His vision compromised, he relied solely on instincts to make his way around, looking for a particular orange tinted building he could stay the night. When he moved to Snowpoint City 3 years ago, he was explicitly warned about these types of vicious blizzards, surely whipped up from the frosty dungeon of Kyurem himself.

"Is this not Iceway Avenue? I swear the Pokemon Centre is around here somewhere…" he grumbled, continuing to squint through the plummeting snow. He could see the faint glow of the street lights hanging above him, which indicated that he was indeed on a road. Good start. The more defined radiance of the buildings gave a more helpful image, as Tamar slogged through what seemed like a never ending pathway of snow and slush.

"Wait…" he mumbled, staring at a certain glow looming at the end of the road. As he continued to approach, the glow morphed into a shape. An orange building, adorned with a pokeball on its front. Sliding doors invited weary travelers a respite from the constant cold that Snowpoint provided. The Pokemon Centre. Tamar shot a grin, before picking up his pace through the flurry. Make no mistake, Snowpoint was a gorgeous city during the day, the constant blanket of snow giving off a glittery reflection and the rustic buildings and cabins giving the city a unique look that differentiated itself throughout the region. However, when the sun set, vicious blizzards forming from Mount Coronet descended on the surrounding Northern region, leaving the unprepared, especially novice trainers on Routes 216 and 217, brutally exposed. It was no shock that Snowpoint City and the Lake Acuity Parish had the highest death rate throughout the region, coming unprepared left you at the mercy of not just the elements, but the local Pokemon as well, like the devious Sneasel, violent Mamoswine, or ghostly Froslass. Only the most foolhardy would dare make a trip to Snowpoint, let alone live in the city itself.

Tamar desperately stumbled through the sliding doors, hit with a strong warm current from the various air conditioners planted on the roof of the foyer. He was lucky it was 2:30 AM, so the foyer was dead empty. He may be homeless, but he didn't like people seeing his disheveled form. Of course, when you're homeless, people gawk at your vulnerable existence nearly constantly, silently judging with expressions of pity, empathy, callousness, or annoyance. Despite this, Tamar did his best to look presentable enough. He adorned a black striped beanie on his head, which covered the top of his hair that flowed to his shoulders. His face was dotted with brown eyes and a nose that seemed perfect for his face shape. A small stubble grew on his face, which he attempted to maintain to the best of his abilities. His darker skin indicated his mixed heritage, Mom from Veilstone City, and Dad from the Orange Islands. He wore a large green overcoat and grey sweatpants, which he attempted to clean whenever he could. Slung over his shoulders was an all white backpack, which did admittedly show some tough wear and tear, but that was simply thanks to usage.

Tamar walked at a brisk pace to reception, knowing someone was waiting for him. The bright and inviting centre was adorned with posters, bulletin boards, and other decorations. The upper floors contained rooms where travelers and trainers alike could sleep for the night. He stumbled to the reception desk and pressed the buzzer.

"For Nurse Joy, please? It's Tamar," he softly remarked before releasing his finger off the button. Waiting for Nurse Joy, he strolled over to the largest poster on the bulletin board, directly to the left of the reception desk.

" _ **SNOWPOINT CITY SINGLES TOURNAMENT! WINNER GETS 1,500,000 PK AND A TRAINING OPPORTUNITY WITH CHAMPION CYNTHIA! REGISTRATION OPEN UNTIL FEB 1ST!"**_

' _1.5 million Poke. Dear Arceus, imagine what one could do with all that money,_ ' wondered Tamar, a tinge of envy washing over him. Sure, the world seemed geared to trainers. Free Pokemon Centres and places to sleep, a stable income (somehow), an adventure of a lifetime with your bestest Pokemon Pals. All this seemed to skip over Tamar. As teenagers frolicked around with their pocket monsters, he traversed the hellhole that was the Lake Acuity Parish, trying to find valuable stones to sell. Basically, he was on a scavenger hunt for a living. It just didn't seem fair to him. He was only 20, and he was already scraping by. He was lucky the Nurse Joy at this Centre took a liking to him, or else he would have surely frozen on the streets of Snowpoint City by now…

"Hey Tamar," a soft feminine voice beckoned from the reception desk, snapping him out of his thoughts. He turned around to find Nurse Joy standing behind the desk, a weary smile adorning her face.

"Hi Joy, I'm back…" he muttered, taking off his backpack and placing it on the reception desk.

"You seriously have to stop going out so late, Tamar. You could've frozen to death out there!" Nurse Joy reprimanded. "I seriously worry, you just seem so…. blaise to obvious dangers…"

"Eh, it's that attitude that gets me these silly stones, you have to have some sort of metaphorical wall to be 'successful' in this frozen hell," he replied, pulling out a variety of different stones out of his white backpack, placing them on the desk. "Any of these look good to ya?"

Nurse Joy analyzed the stones, her eyes darting back and forth. Unfortunately, it appeared that Tamar's haul today was rather fruitless, common ores and pebbles seemed to be the only rocks collected, until she spotted the last, green coloured stone at the end of the line.

"Oh! A leaf stone! You could probably get a couple thousand Poke for this one," she commented.

Tamar smirked. "So my methods are successful, good to know." Nurse Joy looked at him in concern.

"Seriously Tamar, you should hold off on collecting these until spring. It's winter, which means it's so much colder. Plus, Froslass are extra active during this time, looking for their own stones and knick knacks to display in their caves. If you stumble across one, they'll…"

"Kill me, devour my soul, freeze me and display me in their macabre hall 'o' victims, yeah, I've heard this song before" Tamar interrupted, placing the stones back into his backpack. "I've been saving for a bit, I just need maybe 10-12 more stones, and maybe I can lock down an apartment, and I'll be out of your hair. That, or I'll stumble into Lake Acuity plastered. Either seems possible at this point."

Nurse Joy audibly sighed before digging into the desk behind the reception counter to retrieve his room keys. "Tamar, you shouldn't be so apathetic to your own existence. I know your relationship with your family is rocky, but they surely still care about you, and we all care about you here at the Centre! Your volunteer work here is greatly appreciated, you can stay here for as long as you please. It's seriously dangerous out there, and I just want you to be safe." She located the keys and forked them over to the large awaiting palms of Tamar. He sighed, he knew he shouldn't have opened up his whole life story to Joy last week. Now all he hears is the same flaccid justifications of "your family still cares about you!"

"Very kind words, I appreciate it. I'll be gone early tomorrow morning, so I won't see ya until tomorrow night. If you need my help with anything before then, just buzz my room," he smiled, before turning around to walk up to his temporary residence. Nurse Joy stopped him.

"Take this." she spoke, handing him an Ultra Ball. "Just in case you get into a sticky situation and need to buy some time for a getaway." She knew very well Tamar had no intentions on catching a Pokemon, this was purely a diversionary tactic. Tamar smiled again.

"Thank you."

Tamar trekked to Room 231, what had become his home for the past few months. He despised it, however. He certainly didn't hate the Centre or the people working within, they treated him with kindness and respect that he often didn't receive in the world due to his economic status and ethnic background. What he didn't enjoy was his burden to the centre, occupying a permanent room in the building. Sure, he tried to help out all he could, but he still felt tinges of guilt whenever he trudged past the judgmental glares of trainers and travelers, residents and passerby, the latter recognizing him as the guy who used to panhandle near the temple or sleep under cranes in the Port of Snowpoint. It didn't help that the Snowpoint Pokemon Centre was often overbooked. The reality was, a lot more people had needed the Centre's temporary housing over the last few years.

Sinnoh is a region unlike others in the world. Divided by Mount Coronet, the greatest mountain range in the world, Sinnoh is packed with tradition, history, beautiful scenery… and poverty. Mount Coronet made for good pictures, but it's sheer size enveloped most of the land of Sinnoh. As a result, farmable land was at a premium, pushed to the east and west of the mountain. Thanks to this severe lack of land, wars and conflicts over what was left to farm resulted in the region near constantly in tatters.

Paradoxically, Sinnoh is the holy land of the religion Coronetism, the world's largest religion. As the name implies, followers believe that Arceus personally blessed the mountain itself before creating life, manifesting the humans and Pokemon that inhabit the world. Despite being a Sinnohian-centric religion, it quickly spread in popularity worldwide thanks to Sinnoh's refugees that fled the waring region in the 17th and 18th centuries. Even worse, as the 21st century entered, Sinnoh found itself an economic backwater to other regions. Lacking the vast farmland of the United Provinces of Kanto-Johto, the thriving maritime industries of the State of Hoenn, the vast capital and population of Unova, or the cultural and touristic significance of the Kalos Republic, Sinnoh was the odd one out. Thanks to this, economic depression constantly surrounds the region, which explains why Tamar was hunting for stones instead of landing a meaningful job.

Not only that, but ethnic conflicts between East Sinnoh and West Sinnoh led to even more strife. Thanks to the sheer size of Coronet, it took hundreds of years for residents on either side of the mountain to establish firm diplomatic relations. Because of this, East and West Sinnoh developed distinctly separate cultures, empires, and ways of life. And with differences... comes conflict. Despite having been united in an uneasy union for the past 75 years, it seems like talk of East Sinnoh's independence continues to bubble. Thus entails the contradictions of puzzling Sinnoh. The region with vast history, the strongest champion, and packed with powerful, awe inspiring legends was also unstable, ethnically divided, economically disastrous.

All this leaned on Tamar's mind as he slumped into his bed, staring at the Ultra Ball that had been given to him. His childhood dream was like most: Pokemon Master. He would train a wide array of Pokemon and defeat everyone in his wake, becoming the new champion. Of course, this was not meant to be. At age 8, when most young kids begin to learn the basics of the journey they're about to embark upon, a new economic disaster struck the region. The Jubilife City Stock Market began a free fall, which sent Sinnoh into another disaster which it still hasn't recovered. Before Tamar could fully comprehend the scope of the issue, his father was fired from his job, and soon left the family, yelling something about joining an organization for a "new world" and "galactic," a world that would be "free of the woes" that near constantly enveloped Sinnoh.

Suddenly, Tamar had to find a job to help financially support his mother. His journey was to be on permanent pause. Tamar had moved to Snowpoint three years ago, hoping that the city's lucrative shipping industry could help provide enough for him and his mother, promising her that he would only return with enough money to ensure they could both live lucrative lives. Of course, there were no jobs anywhere to be found, and employers demanded proof of residence in any sort of application process. Tamar was stuck. He could always go back to Veilstone to be with his mother, but... he couldn't bear look her in the eyes again, to tell her that his entire time in Snowpoint was a morbid failure. He... just couldn't, pride and shame overpowering him.

He sighed and rolled over in the bed, setting his alarm for 7:00 AM.

"What kind of life is this?" he grumbled, as the icy winds outside continued to whistle throughout the night.

* * *

Aspen stared at the ice sculptures staring back at her, a sense of unease washing through her body. These were no ordinary sculptures, but the frozen remains of Pokemon and humans that were unfortunate enough to cross paths with her dear friend. A Gallade, a Ursaring, a human. All three had a look of sheer terror and panic on their faces, realizing their fate was sealed the moment they were frozen. The human sculpture looked the most tragic. A young boy, no older than 14, reaching into his backpack to retrieve some Pokeballs to fight, before getting frozen. ' _Poor kid_ ' she thought to herself, before floating away towards the middle of the cave. Her friend who wrought the aforementioned extinguishment of these three souls floated in the middle of the room, a massive macabre smile stretching across her face.

"Not bad, eh Aspen? Caught em in only 3 weeks, a soul per week!" laughed the grinning Froslass, slightly unnerving Aspen.

"Ava, they're quite disturbing," she muttered, instinctively glancing back to the poor souls that Ava caught.

"Well, unlike you, I'm actually a Froslass that does things a Froslass does, so I'm definitely the normal one here," she replied back, turning around to fiddle with some trinkets she had collected that were meticulously organized on the eastern wall of the cave, her cave, to be precise.

Aspen, like Ava, was a Froslass, but she was different in one aspect, her colour. Her purple colored face, which was hidden behind her icy mask, was slightly more dull than her counterpart. Likewise, the bow that adorned the back of her kimono was pink, not red. Aspen was a shiny Froslass, which by all estimations was incredibly rare. Well, by her own estimations at least, since she was the only shiny Froslass she knew.

To be fair, she only knew 4 other Froslasses, so that doesn't exactly indicate a strong sample size.

Aspen's eyes narrowed after hearing Ava's comment. "Ava, I'm no less of a Froslass just because I refrain from murder, that's silly to say. Why do we even have to murder in the first place? It's not like we have predators or anything" Ava rolled her eyes, back still turned to Aspen.

"I didn't bring you over so I could listen to fuckin Froscrates tell me her philosophical musings on our species' existence, just help me organize."

Aspen sighed and floated to the west side of the cave, shuffling trinkets and stones around the assembled icy countertops created by Ava.

Froslass are an incredibly brutal species of Pokemon, specializing in freezing foes with their breath and taking their frozen bodies home like some sort of trophy. It's a far cry from their previous form, the Snorunt. Keeping true to the suffix adorning the end of their names, Snorunt were truly the runts of the north. Little cone head creatures scrambling around on their stubby legs, packing snow into their mouths for sustenance, nobody took Snorunt seriously. Bored larger Pokemon took delight in punting little Snorunt as far as they could. They were oft hunted for food, and even humans had come to see the black flesh inside their cones as a delectable delicacy. It was common for packs of Snorunt to be descended upon by Ursaring, Weavile, and human hunters, all looking for a quick meal. So as a result, when females stumbled upon a Dawn Stone and evolved into their ghostly present form, revenge was an excuse often used as justifications for their brutality, retribution for the hardships they suffered as a Snorunts. Yet, Aspen never felt this way. The desire to slaughter humans and Pokemon without mercy wasn't something she wanted to do, much to the annoyed ire of Ava. Sure, she struggled as a Snorunt, like everyone else, but she didn't think she needed to take out this pent up rage on innocent people and Pokemon. She just failed to see a purpose to these murders.

Purpose. That's a word that hung over Aspen like an advil, dangling on a rope. Throughout her mundane journeys through the frozen landscape, self questioning of her own existence became commonplace. Being a ghostly "murderer" with no predators meant a certain detachment from reality that she struggled with. What was there to do in her life? Float around, find some trinkets for her cave, and scare travellers? What kind of existence is that? It's not like she had any sort of companionship in the wild, either. Wild Pokemon are more than aware of the reputation of Froslass, and when they spot one, they often don't stick around for a longer look. Any attempts Aspen made at any sort of communication would inevitably lead to panicked feeling, or even attacks. She supposed she was cursed to float the Acuity Lakefront for eons, with little attachment to the physical realm she inhabited. Her thoughts were interrupted as she spotted two identical glittering stones on the icy countertop.

"You found two Moon Stones?" Aspen asked in surprise. Moon Stones were the most valuable and rare of all the elemental stones, supposedly tracing their origins to other wide reaches of the universe. Ava turned around and grinned.

"Yup," she affirmed, before pointing to the frozen trainer at the back of her cave. "Little man over there had two in his backpack when I got him. I'm guessing he had a Clefairy or Skitty he was trying to evolve." Aspen looked back at the trainer and shuddered, before turning to Ava.

"You have two Moon Stones here, can I maybe take one?" She asked hopefully. Aspen had wanted a Moon Stones for months, enthralled by their pretty black glow. Ava responded with a bemused look, before scoffing.

"Fuck off, they're my stones. Maybe if you actually cornered some trainers, you'd have better luck."

Aspen sighed. It was worth a shot, she supposed. As much as Ava swore her off and disrespected her, she was also her only real "friend" in the frozen Taiga biome, the only one she could actually communicate with.

Okay, maybe the term 'friend' is a bit much, but it's not like she had a lot of choices for companionship. Ava glanced over at the downtrodden looking Aspen and sighed. She has three Moon Stones in total, might as well give her one to avoid any future pestering.

"Fine, you can take one. I found another one today anyway, but you owe me," she grumbled, picking up a Moon Stone from her side of the cave and tossing it over into the waiting hands of Aspen.

"Oh wow, thanks Ava, I really appreciate it!" She beamed, staring at the gorgeous stone now in her possession. Ava waved her off.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."


	2. Freezing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you don't mind the rather obnoxious amount of tags I'm slapping on the story, I'm still very much trying to decipher the ins and outs of A03. Anyway, here's chapter 2, let me know what you think, comment and kudos away :)

Small rays of sunshine softly emitted through the windows, lighting up the foyer with natural light. Buzzing young trainers and travelers congregated within, excitedly discussing the matters of the day or what the immediate future will bring. Despite being only 7 am, the Pokemon Centre was busy and lively. It makes sense when you consider the time constraints that the citizens of Snowpoint were often under, you usually had until 7-8 PM before the blizzard clouds descended down from Mount Coronet, so it was best to get all your business done early. Tamar grinned as he slowly bounded up to a newsstand set up in the right wing of the foyer, a dark roast coffee in hand that he obtained from the free breakfast provided by the Centre.

"Andrei, brother, what do you have for me?" He voiced, taking a sip from his dark roast. The man working the newspaper stand, Andrei, rolled his eyes and grabbed a paper from a stack sitting on the table.

"PNP, like a'ways, ya cunt," he grinned, tossing the paper to Tamar. "Ya be hearing what happened ta Asta?" Tamar's eyebrow raised as he rolled up the paper and placed it under his armpit. Aster was a mutual acquaintance that also helped out at the Pokemon Centre. Sure, he didn't know him completely, but a friendly face was still nice to see. It's also imperative to note that the kid's name was Aster, not Asta, but Andrei was from Canalave City, so his accent was ridiculously thick, the sort where you gotta really focus to understand what the hell he was saying.

"Not especially…" Tamar replied, scanning the atrium behind Andrei's stand for empty tables for him to sit at. Andrei shook his head wistfully.

"Kid got a fight in wit' a Mamo'swine, da tusks 'o' da beast cleaved him head right awf…" Tamar's eyes widened considerably.

"His head got cut off? What the hell? When and where did this shit happen?"

Andrei pulled a cigar out from under his stand and placed it into his mouth, sighing. "Yes'terday, saw him corpse be wheeling in when I was workin', word round da canal that he was trainin' at North Acuity…" Tamar groaned. He was heading up there today to continue his search for anything valuable to pawn off. Beyond Lake Acuity was a thick taiga forest with snow peaked mountains and wild Pokemon galore, relatively untouched by civilization and severely lacking basic amenities like paved roads. It was referred to as North Acuity, and it was the textbook definition of high risk, high reward for Tamar. Thanks to the severe lack of… humanity up there, excavation was non existent, so valuable ores, trinkets, and stones dotted the landscape, ready to be collected and sold. Of course, as the tale of Aster proved, it was also extremely dangerous.

"That's so unfortunate, may Arceus bless his soul…" Tamar softly stated, before laying down a 50 Poke bill on the newsstand desk in exchange for the paper. "I gotta get going soon, see ya tomorrow, Andrei." Andrei nodded at him in return. With his rolled up paper in tow, Tamar clamoured over to an empty table in the atrium and sat down.

" _Maybe there'll be some good news today…_ " he thought to himself, flipping through the pages. His cautious optimism was soon extinguished, as he scanned through the headlines within.

' _Mass protests in Sunnyshore City lead to resignation of mayor, calls for independence growing.'_

' _CEO of Jubilife Stock Exchange sees "little improvement" in investor confidence, predicts another challenging year for Sinnoh economy._ '

' _Lucas Wilde, trainer from Oreburgh City, claims Eastern Sinnoh Liberation Front fighter steals his Pokemon, leave him near death._ '

He sighed in frustration as he sipped his coffee. Sinnoh was a mess, like usual. It didn't help that the leaders and politicians of the region couldn't govern a year three Pokemon Academy class, and the ESLF is still mucking about, shouting from the rooftops about liberation and eastern oppression and the inherent evil of the modern Sinnohian state. No wonder investor confidence hasn't recovered since the Jubalife Crash, what well off Unovan businessperson would even bother tossing in capital to this smorgasbord of instability?

He skimmed through the story involving Lucas Wilde, cringing at the depressing and violent details. Westerners definitely found themselves in more dangerous situations in the east, the Pokemon were typically stronger and the ESLF was always on the prowl, ready to pin trainers and demand to see their Trainer ID. If the ID specified that they hailed from a city in the west... well... the story involving Mr. Wilde is strong indication of what would occur. The entire concept of Eastern Sinnoh as a separate state always befuddled Tamar, even as he was born in the east himself. Sure, the two sides of Sinnoh definitely had a violent history with each other, but as the advent of globalization and the modern nation-state ushered in new ways to communicate throughout the world, the idea of a divided Sinnoh just seemed self defeating. The east and west both spoke the same language, albeit with some small linguistic differences, they were ethnically similar (very... very Caucasian...), and 75 years as a united nation had established infrastructure that would be badly affected by separation.

* _twomp, twomp, twomp*_

Tamar's jumbled thoughts were interrupted as he felt movement around his leg underneath the table, his grey snowpants being pushed inwards. He glanced down in curiosity to be greeted by the eyes of a Bidoof, humping his leg. Tamar growled in frustration, rolling up his newspaper and lightly hitting the invader between the eyes a few times. The Bidoof responded by tightening it's paws around the leg, increasing his speed, much to Tamar's horror.

"GET OFF ME!" Yelled Tamar, now pretty desperate to get this Pokemon off, swinging his leg around a few times like a water mill.

" _BIDOOF DOOF_ ," responded the Bidoof, continuing to hold on, much to the dismay of Tamar.

The various patrons of the atrium soon had their conversations and discussions pause to see an increasingly aggravated Tamar hop on one leg, yelping at the lodged Bidoof on his leg. Snickers and laughs filled the room and Tamar finally tore off the Plump Mouse Pokemon with his hands, and dropped it on the ground. He glanced around to see all eyes in the atrium staring at him, stares of amusement filling their eyes. Tamar growled, he hated nothing more than to be made a fool of. Months of panhandling, begging, and the resulting judgement by passerby gave him an inferiority complex that made him increasingly hostile to the opinions of others. Right then, a young boy, no older than 15, sprinted to the scene.

"I-I-I'm sor-r-r-y sir, that's my B-B-Bidoof," he nervously muttered, picking up his aggravated looking Pokemon. Tamar, grabbing a tissue to wipe off the… results... of Bidoof on his pant leg, angrily glared at the trainer.

"Learn to watch your damn Pokemon, you snot nosed brat." The young trainer nervously apologized again and sprinted off, running out of the atrium. Tamar groaned and slumped back to his seat, face slightly red from the whole endeavour.

' _These dumbass little children and their dumbass Pokemon,_ ' thought the annoyed Tamar, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He really didn't like trainers, especially the younger ones. Just imagine the privilege you must own to have the ability to go on grand adventures throughout the world, traveling across the land and visiting multiple cities just to have your Pokemon battle, and getting money for it! It just seemed like such a foreign concept to Tamar, who had to struggle for every little thing he got. He struggled to help his mom when his father left, he struggled to get measly amounts of capital when he moved to Snowpoint, and he struggles now to find a living. Meanwhile, these kids turn a certain age and bang, here's your starter Pokemon, have fun…

Hell, he never had a strong companionship with a Pokemon! In a world filled to the brim with these weird and wonderful oddities, in which nearly every human had a positive and caring relationship with one, Tamar didn't. He never got a starter, there were never Pokemon around at his childhood home, and he was too busy in Snowpoint trying not to freeze to death than form a friendship.

He sighed and stood up, swinging his backpack around shoulders and folding the newspaper. Of course, all these negative feelings had roots in severe jealousy. He wished he had a cool team of Pokemon, companionship, and a goal to aspire to. To travel Sinnoh, challenging the gym leaders and striving to improve his Pokemon and himself. Alas, that life just simply wasn't destined for him. He was to spend the rest of his days in the lower classes of society, scraping by. Little education, no bonds with Pokemon, nothing to aspire to aside from basic survival instincts. What was even the point of his life to begin with? It's not like he had people in his corner, society often pushes away the needs of the homeless, telling them to "stay off drugs" or "get a job." The only person that truly gave him any sort of appreciation was Nurse Joy, and even her letting him stay at the Centre probably had reekings of pity.

Tamar walked through the sliding door of the Pokemon Centre, pulling his snow mask up to his face and sighed, pushing out the negative thoughts he conjured up in his mind. Forget all that, he had stones to collect.

* * *

Aspen floated through the clearing, staring at her newly acquired Moon Stone. These things were super rare, and she finally had one! Although she now owed Ava something in return, so that was less great, who knows what she would have to fork over to compensate. She stopped her thoughts as she reached her destination, the top of Mount Gigas, one of the highest peaks in North Acuity. The sun was slowly setting behind one of the peaks across from the mountain, drenching the sky in a glorious orange colour. Darkened snow clouds from Mount Coronet were also battling for space in the sky, arriving from the south, giving a striking contrast between the orange coloured sunset. The various pine and spruce trees, covered in fleets of snow, softly swayed back and forth as the clouds from the south began to float over them. In the far distance, roughly an hour south and already covered by the blizzard clouds, one could see a large congregation of lights, emitting a glow into the sky. This was Snowpoint City, the biggest city in the north.

Aspen smiled. She always made it a tradition to trek to this mountain to catch the views of the sunset, and she made it just in time. It wasn't like she was pressed for any sort of time, but she was running late after helping Ava reorganize her cavern. She turned her head upwards to see the clouds overtop of her, the first snowflakes beginning to fall.

"Hm, going to be a tough blizzard tonight…" she commented, watching the sun slowly disappear behind the mountains, perpendicular to her line of sight. She caught a glimpse of Snowpoint's lights once again, before beginning to float down the mountain. She had only been to Snowpoint a few times exclusively as a Snorunt, but she adored it. The big buildings, the cargo ships pulling in and out of the harbour, the bustle of the city centre. It was all an exciting adventure, a dramatic change of pace from the mundane and predictable life of living in North Acuity. The same trees, the same Pokemon, the same everything. Eventually she was going to return to Snowpoint, but she was always discouraged from visiting again by Ava. Even though Froslass could become translucent, Aspen could only become invisible for moments at a time, twenty to thirty minutes at most. Although that could be enough to get in and out, she wouldn't be able to savour the sights of the city to her liking, so what was the point? If her translucence wore off and she was spotted in an urban area… well, let's just say the reception wouldn't be positive. Plus, she was shiny, so that could open a whole new host of problems.

She shot a glance back at her stone grasped tightly in her hands, sparkling in the setting sun. She wasn't quite sure why she had such a instinctive urge to collect all these stones and trinkets. This particular one was definitely valuable, but there wasn't much a Pokemon like her could do with it. There was just... something very alluring to her about the concept of possessiveness, the idea that she had this thing, and it was hers alone, nobody else can have it. Guess it was just species intuition, or maybe she was defensive about the few interesting things that she could possess in an area packed with such thrilling elements, like trees... and snow.

As she finally made it to the bottom of the mountain, the fluttering snowflakes quickly whipped up into a blizzard. Aspen always loved the icy howls of a blizzard, as surely all other Ice types did as well. She began floating north, to her cave close to Lake Acuity.

* * *

"Fuck me."

The freezing cold of the blizzard had seemingly only increased, as Tamar slogged around through the unrelenting cold. He glanced around the area, desperate to find some sort of landmark to guide his path. In his quest for evolutionary stones and other items, he had completely lost track of time, and the blizzard had caught up to him. The howling wind whistled through his ears, almost like it was taunting him. The numerous trees of the forest violently swayed back and forth, under assault from the crippling cold. Tamar could see his breath through his mouth as he gasped for air, taking up energy trekking through calf high snow. He knew he was close to Lake Acuity, but he still couldn't find the main road that wrapped around the lake and led back to Route 217, and Snowpoint City. Thank Arceus he was wearing triple layers, or else he would surely have succumbed to the cold by now.

But still, he knew he was playing a dangerous game. His hands and feet were already starting to feel numb, and he couldn't afford to spend more time in this blizzard. Either the cold would finish him off, or a Pokemon would. He slowly cranked his head to the left to see a large mountain in the distance, his sight obstructed from the cold. He sighed and closed his eyes, knowing his next decision would be critical. He could keep attempting to find Lake Acuity, but the distance from Acuity to Snowpoint was at least an hour's long walk, and he was unsure if he could make it that far. But if he collapsed closer to Snowpoint and human civilization, say on Route 217, maybe he could get rescued by a Ranger or a traveling trainer. But again, no guarantees.

He looked back at the mountain. Option B would be attempting to find temporary shelter nearby that mountain, he could start a fire and hide out until morning. But that plan also carried significant risks. If he was to collapse, he'd be screwed, no humans dare trek up to North Acuity, lest they want to pay with their lives. Even if he was to find a cave, he'd have to hope no Pokemon resided in it, or he wouldn't live to tell the tale. He sighed. Lose-lose.

The wind continued to blow, and he could feel the cold begin to penetrate his clothing. His knees began to buckle under the cold, and he could see his breath freeze in the air. Standing still wasn't an option anymore, he needed to keep moving to produce the necessary kinetic energy to warm himself. Yeah, he wouldn't make it to Acuity. He needed to find shelter in a cave. Putting on a brave face, he tightened his backpack and began stumbling towards the mountain.

* * *

Aspen continued her meandering float towards her cave, tossing up her Moon Stone and catching it like a baseball. She had made this same trek maybe a thousand times, she could memorize the exact textures of the trees she passes, and how they were relevant to the remaining distance to her home.

She squinted ahead and saw the tree with the diagonal cut. Alright, she was 10 minutes away. One of the more helpful "features" of her species was remarkable eyesight in blizzards, she could easily see through the violently plummeting snow, identifying anything. Was this because of her Ice typing or Ghost typing? Who knows. As she turned right for the final stretch, she saw something surprising slumped up against a tree in the distance.

"Is… is that a human?"

* * *

Tamar could feel everything giving out. He had been walking for thirty minutes, and his body was ready to collapse. It seemed to get even colder, if that was possible. He could feel his facial hair completely freeze, his eyes watered and then froze immediately, his hands and feet losing all sensation. The trees kept swaying, the wind kept whistling, the snow kept falling. That's all he saw in this damn forest. He couldn't keep going, anymore exertion of energy would lead to his demise. Tamar stumbled onwards, before coming across a large pine tree, with branches offering some respite from the overbearing cold. The moon shone brightly through the night sky, penetrating the black clouds that hung over the area. The whistling continued. So damn loud.

Tamar collapsed underneath the tree, back pushed up against the bark. His eyelashes were also frozen, so closing his eyes was a difficult task. He wished to pull off his backpack, but his eyes widened when he struggled to move his arms. He could only stare ahead at the falling snow ahead of him, the swaying trees, the frozen breath.

He blinked, before closing his eyes and beginning to pray. He wasn't the best Coronetist, and he rarely prayed, but it seems like now was a sublime time for some divine intervention.

As he opened his eyes, tears began to form, which would promptly freeze. Was this the end? This was his life? A life of tragedy and poverty, a life of economic woes and unrealized dreams? He sniffed, and leaned his head back on the bark, maybe he could push through to the day, maybe Arceus will smile upon him, maybe...

Before closing his eyes, maybe for good, Tamar spotted something out of the corner of his peripheral vision… a figure in the snow, a presence. Was it a Pokemon Ranger? His eyes snapped open as he stared at the darkened figure, slowly getting bigger and bigger in size. It had to be a human, it had the humanoid shape, it had arms, a head, a body, le-

It had no legs, it was floating…

Tamar's blurry vision straightened and his brain whirred to life, probably thanks to the fight or flight adrenaline that just pumped through his body. The figure's shape began to come into view. Arms draped from the skull, a long slender kimono like body, an icy mask, no legs, floating.

A Froslass.

Now he was definitely dead.

Adrenaline surged through his body, giving him a jolt of life. His mind began screaming ' _RUN, YOU HAVE TO RUN NOW,_ ' but his body didn't respond. It was a lost cause, he was already dead, this just confirmed it. Froslass was nigh unstoppable in the snow, running would just delay the inevitable. He would be frozen like a statue, put up for display in her cave, never to be seen again. Nobody would ever find his corpse. But then again, who the hell would even try to recover his body? His mom lived far away. He had no friends. He had no Pokemon. No other family he kept in contact with. As far as he was concerned, he'd just be recalled as another burden to society that kicked the bucket, a useless deadweight that got drugged up and stumbled into Lake Acuity or something. He began to softly sob, slowly accepting his fate.

Through his freezing tears, he stared at the Froslass, who was now starting to come into view. She had a long flowing kimono, which somehow still sparkled in the blizzard, she had sharp, powerful eyes, and her 'ribbon' on her back was… pink? Wasn't it supposed to be red? Nevertheless, he recalled a piece of information that Nurse Joy told him about these ghostly ladies. Froslass don't just go for the kill, they like to play with their victims. He was completely at the mercy of the Froslass, and I'm sure any bit of terror would delight her.

" _I'm not gonna give her that satisfaction,_ ' he thought, opening his mouth to speak.

* * *

"Just fucking kill me, I don't care," Tamar yelled, his eyes red from his tears, "Just freeze me and devour my soul, I really don't care."

Aspen's eyes widened as she started at the shivering human that sat roughly 3 metres from her. She had come across a fair handful of humans in her time, and all of them ran away screaming or tried to fend her off with their Fire Type Pokemon, even if she had no bad intentions. This one was… different. He seemed confident, even if he was scared shitless, which he probably was. He seemed bold, something inside her screamed to help him.

Shaking the odd thoughts out of her head, she floated over towards him and offered her left hand, and gave him as warm of a smile as she could conjure, trying to seem approachable.

" _Fross Fross Lass (I don't want to hurt you),_ " she softly spoke, staring into his eyes. Tamar stared back, attempting to show as much courage as he could, despite being utterly terrified and exhausted. Her voice was soft and gentle, almost sing-songy, and it reverberated in his ears. The whistling of the wind almost seemed to come to a halt, the world seemed slow, and everything got blurry again, as he could feel… darkness wrap about his body. His eyes began to flutter, and his limbs went limp.

_*thump*_

Tamar slumped over, his body not moving. Aspen's eyes snapped open.

"He fainted!" she urgently mumbled to herself, floating back and forth. His life was running low, he needed warmth, and fast. She stared at his limp body, before turning to the direction of her cave. She could take him there? Nobody had been inside her cave with the exception of Ava. Would he even survive the journey? Closing her eyes, visions of the frozen bodies in Ava's cave raced through her mind. Innocent souls forever trapped in an icy prison, their lives extinguished and souls consumed, for no reason other than a macabre twisted form of entertainment.

She was not one to leave a poor, innocent individual to die alone in the forest. She wasn't Ava. With a new sense of determination inbound, Aspen floated over to Tamar and grabbed around his puffy coat.


	3. Communication

"ATTENTION PASSENGERS: NOW BOARDING FOR SINNOHSTAR 208 WITH DIRECT SERVICE TO VEILSTONE CITY"

Tamar glanced up from his newspaper and turned around to see a queue beginning to form on the automated walkway leading up to the train platform.

"Shit..." he muttered, looking down at his half finished bagel. Guess he'll have to save it for later. He was huddled in the corner of the basement waiting area, as far away from the citizenry of the train station as possible and facing towards the wall. Tamar was well aware how weird he looked, curled up against the wall like some sort of gargoyle, but there was a reason for it. Any sort of recognition would be a nightmare of autograph and photo requests, not to mention people begging him for a battle. And he was absolutely not in the mood to beat down some dumb kid's Bibarel while trying to board his train. He sighed, placing his bagel into his backpack and pulling up his facemask.

He had debated whether or not to even meet Professor Rowan in Veilstone, but out of respect for the Professor, he decided to embark on the journey. Plus, going on the Sinnohstar was always a delight, the bullet train had become a symbol of Sinnoh and it's technological advancements... even though Kanto-Johto and Unova both had bullet trains first. Sinnoh's government was usually corrupt and in debt, so any sort of public infrastructure that didn't collapse or bleed over budget might as well be considered the 8th wonder of the world.

Pacing up the walkway towards his platform, the majesty of the station began to reveal itself. Intricate stone cut pointed arches adorned the roof of the building, the roof itself was made of glass with cast iron patterns cutting across. The building was gothic-revival style, slender stone columns, domers, ornate carved walls, and lancet windows all made up the composition of the structure. St Acuity Station was the pride of Snowpoint, the city's foremost landmark and wonderful first impression for visitors. Tamar could remember the first time he stepped off the train here four years ago, a poor young man looking for a new life in Sinnoh's north. Of course, it took a few years of struggling after that, but it eventually worked out.

Although it was always gorgeous, St Acuity was the most stunning at night, when the moon would peek through the cast iron laced glass roof to light the station. The cubist lampshades installed inside would glow a soft orange, providing the rest of the illumination that the moon couldn't. Since trains usually didn't come in after nine or ten at night, thanks to the snowstorms that would come down from Mount Coronet, the station was empty by twelve. There was some security, but not as prevalent as one would expect for a major train station. Plus, there was always new art exhibits strewn about, it was perfect for exploration, hanging out with friends, or romantic rendezvous. Tamar... mainly used the latter. He had some very sweet, romantic dates over the past year in St Acuity, she always loved the station and it's intricacies...

Shaking his head, Tamar strolled to his train. Next stop, Veilstone City, the capital of the east, the city of the mountains, the eighth largest city in the world... and stronghold of the ESLF.

* * *

Tamar slowly opened his eyes, his field of vision returning to view. He couldn't remember a lot, it was cold, there was a tree, a lady…

Squinting, his slow return to reality was greeted by the image of a… fire? A small controlled fire was alight directly in front of him, providing much needed heat to his shivering form. Fueled by small pieces of wood, sticks, and branches, the arrival of heat felt akin to a weary desert traveller finding an oasis. A small circle of ice spikes surrounded the fire, creating a steam that also helped warm Tamar. He cracked his neck and placed his forearm on the ground, trying to lift himself off his side and sit upright. The floor was smooth stoned, ragged edges nowhere to be seen. It had an element of coldness to it, even though he couldn't find the entrance to this cave anywhere nearby.

His brain slowly whirred to life. Cave? Cave! He was in a cave! Tamar softly grunted as he pushed himself up, keeping his eyes on the miracle fire he had seemingly spawned in front of. With his orientation upright, he scanned his unfamiliar surroundings, his heart beating at a faster speed.

The cavern was huge, with a high towering ceiling. Adorned on the walls were countertops made purely of ice, holding all sorts of trinkets and other interesting items. To his right was seemingly a second floor, a massive patio like structure made completely of ice. There were no rooms in this cavern, simply the two floors, the smoothed out first floor and the icy second. Ice seemed to be a recurring theme in this cave, ice on the walls, icicles hanging from the second floor, pure ice cabinets. Despite all this frozen water, Tamar felt a confusing sensation of warmth admitting into his body. Surely this fire couldn't counteract all the ice, maybe there was something else…

His thoughts were immediately halted by sensing movement across the cave from him. In his disorientation and confusion, he had failed to see the white, blue, and purple creature that was shuffling the trinkets on the shelves. Tamar's brain started to make the necessary connections. Icy cavern, various trinkets, a literal floating spectre that was residing in the cave?

He was in a Froslass cave, and he was staring at one.

' _How the fuck did I end up here?_ ' he thought, before realizing the danger he was in. He didn't know if he was carried here by the ghostly entity to be killed for later, or to be held captive, or to be tortured, but he was in absolutely no mood to stay and find out. He swung his head towards where he heard the howling wind, to his left. He could try to escape, but he was pretty deep in this cave, he could get lost. Plus, it was still clearly snowing outside, and Tamar was in absolutely no mood to go back into the North Acuity cold. Then again, if he stayed in this cave, he was surely to die. But then why was there a fire seemingly set up for him? It just didn't make sense…

Aspen finished rearranging her various knick knacks on the shelf, content with her work. The can of honey first on the left, the dread plate in the middle, and the reaper cloth on the right. It wasn't glamorous, but it was the only thing that a Froslass could do, aside from floating, making ice sculptures, or freezing humans. Well, she swore off the freezing humans part, so that's 33% of her potential activities moot.

Human. She had a human in her cave, she should probably check on him again. It wasn't easy to drag a limp human through the snow, despite her strength, and making a fire absolutely sucked. Being an Ice Type first and foremost, the fire was loathsome to her. Sure, she could endure it, but it just gave her a certain anxiety that gnawed. Now that she thought about it, why did she go through all this trouble for this guy? It was his fault he was caught up in North Acuity, the area never ceases in it's coldness. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, something inside told her to save him… Slowly turning around to check on the human, her eyes widened in surprise as she saw his bundled form quietly digging through his backpack, looking panicked as he seemingly searched for something.

"Fross Lass Lass (I see you're awake)," Aspen called out, Tamar's mini excavation through his backpack ceased as his eyes shot up to see the Ice/Ghost type staring directly at him. Urgency picking up across his body, he grabbed what he was seeking in his backpack, his knife. Stumbling back in terror, Tamar pushed the handle of the knife up to his chest, his back pushing up against the wall of the cave. Trembling, he tightened his grip around the blade, shaking in fear. Sure, he was probably dead, but there was no way he was going down without a fight. The Froslass could probably end his life with one well placed Ice Beam, but he at least wanted some tool to defend himself.

"STAY BACK," the quivering Tamar yelled back, raising the knife up above his shoulders to his eye level, "I'LL LEAVE YOUR CAVE, OKAY?" It was probably worth mentioning how stupid of a scheme this was, Froslasses were ghosts, could they even get "stabbed?" In this sort of panicked scenario, critical thinking skills usually were thrown out the window. Aspen swung her hands up, shaking her head.

"Lass Lass Fross. Fross Fross Froslass… Fross, Fross (I'm not going to hurt you. Just… put the knife down, please)."

Tamar's eyes widened even more, if that was possible. ' _I'm not gonna hurt you, put the knife down_ _?_ ' How the hell did he just understand her? She was speaking like any other Pokemon, saying her name, and yet he totally understood what she said? That's never happened to him before. There were always stories of trainers claiming that they could understand their Pokemon, thanks to their " _SHUPER SPESHUL BOND_ ," but Tamar always thought it was bullshit. But yet, he totally understood this Froslass. Was she fucking with his brain? Some sort of ghostly manipulation? Did those brownies he took from the Pokemon Centre have some... other ingredients?

Tamar slowly lowered the knife, slumping back to a sitting position on the cave's wall. He was dead anyway, might as well comply and postpone his inevitable demise. He watched as the strikingly elegant Froslass slowly approached him, hands continuing to be held above her head. He couldn't take his eyes off the ribbon that adorned the back of her kimono, which was pink. Tamar assumed this particular Froslass was shiny. Awesome, he had the honour of getting brutally killed by a shiny Froslass instead of a regular one, how lucky was he?

**(A/N: From here on out, Aspen's speech to Tamar will be like a regular human, with no parentheses to translate. She's still speaking Pokemon tongue, but Tamar can understand, so the parentheses seems moot. If Aspen is talking to a different human, parentheses will return)**

"I was the one that dragged you here, you were dying in the snowstorm, I'm not violent, just… calm down, please," Aspen softly stated, floating closer to the trembling masked human. Tamar, still slightly disturbed that he could understand exactly what she was saying, sighed in frustration and put away his knife, before slowly comprehending what she said. She dragged him here? How? Why? His mind, a mix of curiosity and terror, felt like it was going to melt. This was way too much stimulation for it to handle. Sighing again, he noticed the Froslass had now closed the gap between the two. He could feel the icy, cold aura emitting from her presence.

"Well… thank you…. For not letting me die…." he stumbled, unsure what to say. What was there to say? He continued to stare into her eyes. They contained traces of… compassion… and friendliness. Aspen smiled, before raising her equivalent of an eyebrow. Did he respond directly to her? That seemed like a very specific response.

"Wait... do you understand what I'm saying?" questioned the perplexed Aspen, her confusion only matched by Tamar's.

"Um…. yeah, it seems like it," he softly stumbled again, hints of terror still prevalent in his voice. He two continued to stare at each other, as an awkward silence filled the air. Aspen was still trying to figure out how he understood her, and Tamar was trying not to say anything that would result in his death. Not the best conditions for striking conversations…

Finally, after what felt like eternity, Tamar finally broke the ice, with the rationale that if he got friendly with the ghost, maybe she wouldn't extinguish his life. But then again, she dragged him here, and she hadn't killed him yet…

"This is a beautiful cave you have here," he spoke, staring around at the intricate carving on the ice. Aspen felt her stomach jump a little bit. She wasn't used to compliments of any sort, and she spent inordinate amounts of time decorating the place, so it struck a certain chord with her.

"Why thank you," she smiled, "not a lot to do up here, so I spend it trying to make my cave more pretty." Tamar chuckled.

"Clearly, it's gorgeous," he replied, before locking eye contact with her. "You don't mind if I take off my jacket and mask, right? I've been walking in this stuff for hours…"

"Why would I care?" Aspen chuckled. Tamar shrugged. He was starting to feel comfortable, which didn't make sense, considering he was fluently communicating with a Froslass, a brutal species with the taste for human souls. Maybe the absurdity of it all was making him drop his guard.

"I don't know, house rules or something." Taking her word, Tamar took off his green puffy jacket and ski mask and placed it beside his backpack, feeling relieved. Talking and breathing through the mask was a chore. Aspen felt a funny feeling as she stared at the human, seeing him maskless for the first time. He had beautiful shoulder length black hair, glowing brown eyes, and a strong looking face. He blinked as he brushed some of the hair out of his face.

" _Wow, he's pretty handso-,'_ she thought to herself, before stopping herself. Wait, what? Handsome? She inwardly groaned, maybe all this loneliness and lack of companionship was starting to get to her. Trying to push that confusing thought out of her brain, she decided to continue the conversation.

"So why the hell were you up this far north at night?" Tamar chuckled awkwardly.

"Uh, I was up here looking for stones, or anything valuable I could sell. I...uh… need the money…"

Aspen subconsciously eyed the evolutionary stones she had lined up on her highest shelf. He collected them too? I guess they were more similar than one would expect. But… money? Why would he need money? Surely there were better ways to go about getting this resource without stumbling around in the north pawning rocks? It didn't help that the theories of economics weren't really concepts she grasped… Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of a grumbling stomach.

"Oh-," blushed Tamar, instinctively grabbing his stomach. "Sorry, I haven't eaten in a while, I'm a bit peckish…" Aspen nodded, before frowning.

"Sorry, I don't have anything to eat here, I usually just eat as I find…"

"That's alright, I packed some berries in my bag," grinned Tamar, pulling up his backpack from the ground. The berries had frozen within his bag, but they thawed out from proximity to the fire. Inside was an impressive assortment of berries collected from the Pokemon Centre's free breakfast: Pecha, Aspear, Oran, Sitrus, and Rawst. As Tamar dug through for his treat, he noticed the curious stare of the Froslass peering into the bag.

"I'm guessing you haven't seen these before?" Aspen nodded.

"Yeah… Vegetation doesn't really grow around here…"

Tamar, without a second thought, snatched a Rawst Berry from the bag and handed it to Aspen, a smile decorating his face.

"Here ya go, I heard Ice Types really like this one, it helps with burns."

Aspen's eyes widened as she stared at the blue coloured berry, adorned with bright green leaves and a spotted surface. Tamar was definetly nervous regarding his friendly gesture, he didn't know anything about Froslass except for the " _very evil, kill all organic beings_ " stereotype. A part of him wanted to break the awkwardness of the conversation, and the other more significant portion wanted her to warm up to him so she didn't freeze him, if you catch his drift… After a few seconds, Aspen carefully plucked the berry out of his hand, smiling.

"Why… thank you" she voiced, before raising her equivalent of an eyebrow.

"Um… this is awkward but… I didn't catch your name…" she asked. Tamar sat down near the fire, before biting into an Oran berry.

"Tamar, yours?" he responded, covering his mouth as not to spit the chewed remnants of the berry like a projectile.

"Froslass." Aspen replied bluntly, floating down directly across from Tamar, glancing at the foreign berry she was holding. Tamar rolled his eyes, swallowing his bite of the Oran before continuing.

"Yeah, no duh, I was wondering if you had like a nickname or something." Aspen could feel her face getting… less cold? Warm-ish? Was she blushing? How the hell could she blush? She was literally an ice ghost, no veins anywhere in sight. Suddenly everything but Tamar's sheepish stare was interesting to her.

"U-u-uh, y-yeah, but it's really stupid and…" Tamar frowned.

"Hey now, I'm sure it's a lovely name, there's no need to demean yourself like that."

Aspen's eyes widened. She wasn't used to someone so… kind and considerate. Her extent of interactions was with Ava, who never missed an opportunity to belittle her or remind her how useless she was. Now here was this human, giving her berries and being friendly as could be. Then again, it was probably just residue appreciation from her helping him out the cold.

"T-T-Thanks, I-I like to go by A-Aspen," she stumbled. Ugh, she did not enjoy bumbling around with her speech like this.

"Aspen… Aspen…See, I called it, that's a lovely name," Tamar smirked, digging into his bag for a Pecha berry. Aspen gave a genuine smile. Ava often mocked her name, considering it rather ugly, so it was nice to hear someone else liked it.

"Thank you."

* * *

"And after that, I never ordered pizza from Papa Jack's again" grumbled Tamar, mouth full of another Oran berry.

The pair had been talking around the fire for what seemed like hours, munching berries along the way. Tamar still was slightly incredulous at the scenario he found himself in, telling random anecdotes or more personal experiences to a literal Froslass in a cold cave. Paradoxically, he never felt more comfortable in his life. He had spent his entire life without a true companion, someone to talk to, so he was prone to keeping his feelings in, whether it be a silly story about bad pizza or more emotional tales about his family. But then here he was, shooting the shit with a Froslass. Aspen, for her own experiences of solitude, felt the same way.

"I mean, I guess I understand, but it's still pretty incredible that you guys can get sustenance delivered to you on automobiles. Humans have this life thing figured out, it seems," she responded, taking a graceful nibble out of her fourth Rawst berry. They were overwhelmingly delicious, much tastier than the mediocre shriveled berries that grew throughout North Acuity. Of course, Froslasses could also devour human souls for food, but that wasn't Aspen's style.

"Humans have their priorities all out of whack. There's massive new expensive apartment buildings going up in Snowpoint City nearly every month, but the homeless shelter is old and ridden with disease," Tamar replied, eyeballs rolling. "And they require a stable income or a super expensive down payment to lease out one, so it leaves me fucked. Thank god for the Pokemon Centre…"

Aspen cringed. Previously, she had viewed humans in pretty strong regard. The buildings they constructed and the technology they invented installed a sense of admiration within her, she was incredibly impressed that they could break out of the mundane realities of Sinnoh's north to build such an incredible city like Snowpoint. However, upon hearing the tales of Tamar, she wasn't so sure anymore.

"Well, you know more about humans than me, so I won't argue on that."

"So, are there more Froslasses around here? I've never seen any, granted I don't exactly go ghost hunting..." Tamar inquired.

"I know four others, all differing degrees of murderous," She replied, "they're not the most upstanding creatures of the ecosystem, I advise steering clear, being around them isn't optimal conditions for... living."

Tamar nodded, before finishing off his Oran Berry. Unsurprising, Froslass were very well known for their malicious murder sprees, anyone who encountered one in the snowy blizzards of the north were certain not to live to tell the tale. They were registered as ' _Cataclysmic Pokemon_ ' by the Sinnoh government, and you needed at least seven gym badges and an expert trainers licence in order to possess one. Giving your Snorunt a Dawn Stone without proper approval from authorities could land you a hefty jail sentence. For a government as overwhelmingly incompetent as Sinnoh's, they took this rule VERY seriously. Only a select few elite trainers had a Froslass, one of them being Candice, the Snowpoint gym leader and one of the strongest trainers in all of Sinnoh. Sadly, deaths from Froslass was still an occurrence, especially in the north. Young trainers not knowing any better would excitedly grab a Dawn Stone and evolve their Snorunt for the awesome battling potential of a Froslass, only to have their lives ended the minute the evolution process finished. It didn't matter how tightly you bonded with your Snorunt, evolution would... change all of that.

The most infamous event regarding this species happened thirty years ago, when a notable television personality decided to evolve his Snorunt on live TV. According to him, he had bonded with this Snorunt for ten years, and the two had come to view each other as close as a human-pokemon relationship could be. He was apparently attempting to prove that the bonds between human and Pokemon could overcome any long standing instincts. When he eventually gave his Snorunt the evolutionary stone and it evolved, his newly minted Froslass proceeded to brutally murder him before killing the other humans and Pokemon on set, like sound engineers and camera operators. It took a security guard with his Dusclops on hand to eventually bring down the Froslass, but that was before six humans and three Pokemon lost their lives. As you could imagine, with all this being live on television, the hysteria from the public was immense, and the government quickly put restrictions in place as a response. Although it had been almost three decades since, the event still resonated in the minds of the jittery public, and Froslass continued to be viewed as a deadly pariah. Thank goodness most naturally occuring Dawn Stones were harvested by humans, who knows what the Froslass population could do if their numbers increased, they were freakishly fast and strong...

All of this was befuddling Tamar, despite this history, despite their reputation, this Froslass, Aspen, had saved his life and was being nothing but friendly. It was... pretty shocking. Why wasn't she like the rest of her species? What made her different?

"If you don't mind me asking... why are you not like the rest of them? Why do you refrain from murder?"

Aspen sighed. This was a question she wasn't totally sure of herself. She knew of the reputation her species held, she knew what she was supposed to be. But whenever she saw an organic being, Pokemon or human, the desire to murder that she should hypothetically hold was just... not there. If anything, what she really longed for was companionship, someone kind and caring and fun to talk to, pretty much the opposite of Ava. Someone to make her boring mundane life more exciting.

"I have no idea, I never really planned to become a Froslass, I always thought I'd be a Glalie, but I stumbled on a stone and now here I am. I guess I'm reluctant, I honestly don't know... All I do is collect pointless stuff and store them... I'm not very useful to anyone..."

"Hey, I also collect pointless stuff, although my motive is a bit different, and there's no reason to demean yourself doing it! Your cave is gorgeous and the stuff you collect is actually very cool. And that 'I'm not useful' stuff is rubbish! I find you very useful, I mean, saving my life and providing me great hospitality is very useful in my books, you've been kinder and more respectful to me than a lot of these asshole humans I know."

Aspen could feel the funny feeling reenter her stomach as she looked up at Tamar in surprise. That was... so nice of him? She couldn't help but stretch a massive, genuine smile over her face.

"Thank you... Thank you so much, that's very nice of y-you..."

Tamar groaned and stretched, before something caught his eye near the east of the cavern, light reflecting off the glazed ice shards that decorated the entrance. He could hear the faint sounds of Starly chirping. It was daytime. He had to start getting back to Snowpoint eventually. Aspen also glanced to the entrance, realizing that it was morning. She could feel her heart ache a little bit.

"Ah shit, I gotta start going back," Tamar muttered, beginning to throw his winter gear back on. Aspen sighed. She had greatly enjoyed his company, his kindness, and his knack for jokes. She still couldn't put her finger on the funny feelings she felt when she first saw his face, or when her stomach would jump when he gave her praise, no matter how miniscule. Alas, it wasn't to be. His place was with humans, not her. She continued to watch him throw his jackets on, before thinking about what he had said previously. In a vacuum, she didn't need all this stuff she collected, she just stored it out of species instinct and boredom. But her new human friend, on the other hand, went hunting for stuff to improve his life, to get money, that sort of thing. So, theoretically, something valuable from her collection could help him a lot...an idea popped into her brain.

"Wait there!" she excitedly exclaimed, before jumping out of her sitting position and zooming off towards the second floor of her 'home'. Tamar sighed, leaning up against the wall of the cave, nearly dressed. With Aspen digging around on her second floor, he had the ability to fully step back and analyze what happened to him. He was rescued by this Froslass named Aspen, they understood each other, and they ended up talking for hours. How the hell did that all just occur? More importantly, how lucky was he to find the one Froslass with no homicidal intent? Not only that, but she was caring, friendly, funny, and beautiful…

' _Beautiful?_ ' he thought to himself, puzzled at the word his brain just conjured up as an adjective. Maybe it was just sleep deprivation, or exhilaration and appreciation at the fact that he wasn't turned into a frozen showpiece. His thoughts were interrupted by Aspen floating towards him from the second floor, something clasped in her hands as she shyly approached.

"Here… t-t-take this, you c-can put it to g-good use..." she stumbled. Fuck, the stuttering is back. Tamar curiously stared at her hands as she unveiled the mystery object, before his mouth swung agape.

It was a Moon Stone, glittering in her hands a gorgeous black hue, like the dark sky on a clear night. Moon Stones were the most valuable of all the evolutionary stones, and the most rare. There were an estimate of only 8,000 worldwide, so trainers were willing to pay an overwhelming top dollar to grab one. He could sell this to the PokeMart for a massive sum, maybe even enough to snag a down payment on one of those new apartments, finally lifting himself out of homelessness. For years he scoured the Lake Acuity Parish, writing off the possibility of finding one akin to winning a lottery ticket. Sure, there was a chance he could get one, but it was tiny. Yet, here was a Froslass he befriended, giving him one for free. He could feel his legs buckle as tears began to form in his eyes.

"A-A-Are you sure?" he stumbled, his voice beginning to waver. Aspen only smiled at his reaction. Sure, it was her only one she snagged from Ava, but it was pretty clear he could put it to much better use than she could, maybe he could get some sort of living quarters with it. She nodded in response to his query, a genuine caring smile gracing her lips.

Tamar slowly grabbed the stone and stared at it, trembling, before glancing back up at Aspen. Sure, if he was in his right state of mind, he definitely wouldn't have done the action that he did, but out of euphoria and joy, he quickly wrapped the surprised Aspen into a tight, strong hug.

"THANK YOU S-S-S-SO MUCH" he sobbed, not really comprehending that he grabbed a freezing ice type into a hug, but to his surprise, she wasn't cold at all. Instead, she had a cool presence.

Aspen's eyes were wide and face red as she felt herself get roped into the hug, before awkwardly wrapping her arms around his neck. He was… so strong, and she could feel his strength exerted on her body. She never had this type of affection in her life, or this type of physical contact, and her stomach felt like it was doing somersaults. She received another jolt as his arms shifted to wrap around her bow like protrusions that were attached to her kimono. These bows were extra sensitive, and she felt waves of pleasure as he inadvertently held onto them. Despite the suddenness of the hug, and the warmth of the Tamar, she… liked it? Before she could further analyze what she was feeling, Tamar retracted from the embrace, holding a sheepish grin.

"Sorry, I just got so excited, you have no idea how much this stone will help me," he excitedly said. Aspen could only smile at his excitement, while her heart still felt like it was going to explode from the contact.

Tamar began walking towards the exit, new Moon Stone in hand, before stopping and turning to Aspen, who felt like she was going to pass out from lightheadedness.

"We should meet up again tomorrow, we can look for stones together!" he offered, a hopeful smile on his face. He had a lot of fun with Aspen, maybe the first real companion he ever had, and she just gifted him with a Moon Stone. The least he could do was offer companionship to her and her admittedly dull, same-y life. Plus… something inside of him just wanted to see her again.

"YES!" excitedly responded Aspen before reddening up again. Wow, she was really making herself look like a fool today, huh? Tamar only smiled.

"Cool, I'll meet you by the North Acuity lakefront tomorrow, can't wait!" Aspen, who had roughly a trillion thoughts zooming through her mind all at once, could only smile back and nod. With that, Tamar climbed out the entrance, and off he went. After 30 seconds passed, with Aspen floating in the middle of her cave attempting to understand what the hell just happened, she zoomed out the entrance and watched Tamar walk into the forest, before disappearing behind the trees.

"What… What was I doing?" she asked herself, instinctively grabbing her chest. Suddenly, for some reason, she felt like she had to look VERY good for tomorrow. Floating back inside her cave, she laid down on the ground, her hands covering her face.

"Did I just fall for a human?"


	4. Morality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is rated M for blood and gore, make sure to review, let me know how I did with that scene in particular :)

"Please… h-have mercy…"

Ava's malicious grin only widened as she stared at the crumpled human at the ground below her, blood streaming out of his nostrils and hands. He was attempting to grab a pokeball to fight, but Ava quickly took care of that problem with a well placed Ice Beam. What a moronic human, coming into her cave to explore. She floated down to look at him in the eyes, her evil grin widening across her face. His face was a combination of blood and tears, a mixed expression of fear and agony. Humans made this hunting thing too easy.

" _~Fross~_ "

In the blink of an eye, she quickly snatched his neck and lifted him off the ground, sinking her sharpened fingers into his throat. Sure, she could simply freeze him and extinguish his life in an instant, but where's the fun in that? In her opinion, the thrill of the hunt was far more satisfying than the murder itself. She could feel her fingers slowly cut through his skin and enter the warm blooded flesh of his throat, causing the unfortunate human to begin gagging and gargling for any sort of oxygen. Now for the finishing blow...

"What the fuck?"

Ava groaned and turned around, knowing exactly who's mortified voice just called out from the entrance to her cave. Turning around, just like she expected, floated Aspen, a disgusted look on her face.

"What the hell are you doing to that human?"

Ava rolled her eyes, before slamming the shivering human into the wall of her cave. Dumbass Aspen, always interrupting her fun with her timid self. Raising her arm, she summoned a small ball of ice which she quickly heaved at the human, freezing his arms and legs in a thick cocoon of ice. Just to ensure he wouldn't escape. With the human sealed, she then turned around and floated over to her "friend."

"Use that cranium of yours, I know you have a sliver of critical thinking in there," sarcastically muttered Ava. Aspen took a sympathetic glance at the trapped human on the cave's wall. She wasn't sure how he got himself into this situation, but he certainly wasn't making it out alive. Ava never let her prey escape. As much as murder disgusted her, she knew there wasn't a lot she could do for that human. Ava was much stronger than her, and she definitely didn't want to get on her bad side…

"Butchering for the sake of butchering?" Aspen replied, voice containing hints of contempt. Despite their discrepancies in power, she could still voice her displeasure. Glaring at Ava, she saw her body was covered with blood stains.

"Ding ding ding, twenty points for pinko over here," she scoffed, referencing the fuschia coloured bow that adorned her counterpart's kimono.

Aspen couldn't help but stare at the misfortunate human pinned on the wall. He seemed quite young, his face lacking any sort of facial hair and his shifting, increasingly lifeless eyes showcasing a degree of innocence and youthfulness. She could only assume Ava found him first. Peering through the crystal clear ice blocks that trapped his limbs, she spotted splotchy bluish black marks forming on his fingertips. Frostbite was beginning to take shape. Aspen could only cringe at the agonizing pain that he must be undergoing, if Ava didn't finish him off, the hypothermia would. His twisted, tear stained face clearly exhibited his torment. Her thoughts were interrupted by a towel being thrown at her, lightly smacking her in the face.

"What are you staring at? Go clean my stuff." impatiently ordered Ava. Aspen sighed and floated over to one of her many shelves, picking up an Electirizer and wiping off frost that had gathered on it. Ava was an asshole, but it wasn't like Aspen had many options for companionship. Plus, Ava was the first Froslass to encounter Aspen after the latter had evolved, and became her mentor of sorts, teaching her the various characteristics of her species. Without Ava's help, Aspen probably would have starved. Even being a ghost, she required sustenance to continue living. Because of this, Aspen felt like she owed something to Ava, and her more timid personality was easily overpowered by her counterpart's headstrong confidence.

"I didn't even have to hunt this one, he came wandering into my cave with his Buizel, what a fucking moron, don't they teach humans not to enter caves this far north?" laughed Ava, floating back over to inspect the dying trainer. Aspen shuddered, before turning around to nervously scrutinize her murderous comrade.

"Where… where's his Buizel?" Ava disinterestedly motioned over to a darkened portion of her cave, one that Aspen hadn't analyzed yet. When she did, she immediately wished she hadn't.

Lay crumpled on the floor was the solid icy corpse of Buizel, or whatever was left of it, anyway. Blood was spilled all over the ground, frozen thanks to the cold in the cave. It's limbs were torn off, strewn directly on the side of its body. The face was frozen in twisted agony, one eyeball popped out of the socket. It's flotation sack had been removed and ripped in half, as it lay beside some sliced organs that Aspen couldn't even identify. It had clearly suffered a brutal, gory death.

"Little bastard wouldn't go down without a fight, so I had to make an example out of it." calmly explained Ava, still staring at the trainer. Aspen felt herself gag as she gazed in horror at the wretched scene in front of her. She knew Ava was a murderer, this much was certain, but she had no idea she was capable of such brutality. Usually their species would just freeze their prey and display them, not butcher them into pieces.

"Ava… what the… what the fuck…" Aspen stumbled, voice cracking in anxiety. Her brain became increasingly light headed. She suddenly felt the urge to zoom out of the cave and as far away from her counterpart as possible.

"Trainers assume the responsibility for the welfare of their Pokemon when they capture them. This particular individual did the same when he captured that Buizel, and he failed in his duty." Aspen gaped at Ava in utter befuddlement. How could she even think like that? She pounced on this innocent trainer who stumbled into a cave, ripped his Buizel to pieces, and proceeded to torutre him, and yet this was all his fault? He failed in his duty? What kind of broken lack of self accountability was that? She could feel anger start to bubble in her body.

"How the actual fuck are you blaming him? He walked into your cave by accident, and you've proceeded to act like a savage fucking monster for no other reason except for your own twisted self satisfaction? Hell, just freezing him would be brutal enough, yet you go out of your way to torture him like this?" Aspen paused to catch her breath, before starting to grasp the consequences of her mini rant she embarked on. She just called Ava, the Pokemon who caused this scene of carnage, a savage monster. Not the best decision. The aforementioned murderous Froslass spun around to glare at Aspen, anger expressed in her eyes. Aspen felt her stomach jump as she instinctively floated backwards from Ava, terror starting to fill her body. Ghosts could kill other ghosts, would Ava do the same to her? She half expected Ava to soar over and end her existence in the physical realm as punishment for her insolence. Instead, she was surprised to see Ava sigh in frustration before floating upwards to stare at the mumbling semi conscious trainer.

"Aspen, are you aware of the plight of the Tauros?" inquired Ava. Aspen raised her equivalent of an eyebrow. She was somewhat aware, figuring that they were a species of Pokemon from a different region, but she wasn't totally sure.

"Uhm… not… especially…" meekly replied Aspen, careful not mumble out anything that would further antagonize Ava, out of fear of reprisal.

"Tauros are a type of Pokemon from Kanto. They're quadruped, think of them like bigger Purugly, but different in composition, colour, that sort of thing," explained Ava, using a Sinnoh based Pokemon to help Aspen understand.

"Tauros are like you and me. They're freethinkers, they have aspirations, goals, dreams. They can feel happiness, sadness, anger, satisfaction, that sort of thing. However, their flesh is quite delicious for humans, and it's quite sustaining, from what I've heard. What do you think the humans do to the Tauros?"

"Uhm… they kill them… for food?" Aspen muttered weakly. She wasn't sure how Ava knew all this, but she was quite wise, when she wasn't acting completely unhinged. Ava nodded.

"They have slaughterhouses set up. Entire facilities with sharpened machinery operated by humans and their Pokemon partners. The Tauros is led to it's murder, it's throat is sliced, it's skin is ripped off, the body is carved into various pieces, all while it's alive and conscious. It's an incredibly brutal process, to be frank. And you know that means something, coming from me." Aspen cringed, that didn't sound pleasant at all.

"But when your typical human bites into his delicious Tauros burger, I seriously doubt they care. When they enjoy a Tauros steak, I seriously doubt they reflect on the horrific process that led to the sustenance they're consuming. Forget that this intelligent, peaceful and innocent Pokemon met a grim and savage demise, they make a fine meal, and that's justification enough for humans."

"Now, with this information, I ask you, what's the difference between what I did to this trainer and his Buizel, and what happens to the Tauros?" Aspen gulped, still slightly unsure what the point of this arching narrative was. The Tauros was killed for food, while Ava seemed to murder for self satisfaction. On the other hand, however, Ava did enjoy the taste of souls, maybe she was hunting for a meal too? But that doesn't adequately explain why the Buizel was so savagely slaughtered…

"Hell, have you not seen how savage the wild is? Let's say that Buizel came across a hungry Luxray. Do you seriously think it wouldn't have been torn to shreds?" Ava impatiently answered herself. "But I personally wouldn't consider the Luxray a ' _savage monster_ ,' nor would I consider the humans who consume Tauros a ' _savage monster_ ,' this is simply the way the world works."

Aspen attempted to mutter out a response, but her voice went mute. She guessed that fundamentally made sense, but there was still a question that hung in her mind. Finally, a response squeaked out of her.

"B-B-But they hunt for food, you don't have to kill t-them like that, we can easily thrive without consuming s-souls…" Ava turned around from the human, an annoyed look painting her face.

"But I can, and I enjoy it, so why shouldn't I? Who's to stop me?" Aspen gulped as Ava spun around to stare at the human once more, who was clearly on his last breaths, before clasping his throat with her right hand, tightening her grip.

"What I'm trying to argue here is that you don't have a monopoly on morality, and you need to understand that. Every species alive has a different concept of morality, of what is right and wrong, and you're not better than me simply because you don't kill."

Aspen was perplexed. She wasn't sure how Ava could keep these quasi-philosophical musings while she brutally murdered everything in sight, but it was unnerving, to say the least. Maybe she had a point? A Tauros would see what humans did as horrifying, while a human would simply shrug it off as needed for food. What even was right and wrong? Wouldn't every species view that differently? But then again… what Ava was doing would be offensive to nearly every other species, so was she the one pushing her morality on Aspen? This was all very confusing for her, especially as she still felt light headed from the atrocious scenes she witnessed. Before Aspen could mutter another timid response, she watched as her counterpart dug her fingers into the trainers neck, and then pulled…

Aspen gasped as she watched Ava rip out the throat of the trainer, leaving him to gargle away whatever little life he was holding onto. The unholy combination of flesh and skin that Ava had violently tore out was pouring out inordinate amounts of blood, soaking the cave floor in a gut wrenching red colour. The smell of iron wafted throughout as Aspen felt herself get very queasy. Ava stared down at the remnants of the human's esophagus that she was holding, grinning. She then tossed the flesh to the ground, before turning to look at her fellow Froslass. Aspen felt shivers go up and down her body as the maniacal Ava gave her a knowing smirk, a brand new coat of blood from the trainer adorning her face and body, turning her normally white ice mask and kimono red.

"Well, now that you're paying attention, I want my Moon Stone back."

Aspen, still mortified and queasy from the horrific scenes that just played out in front of her, slowly began comprehending her counterpart's demand with a twinge of horror. She didn't have the stone… she gave it to Tamar…

"I-uh-well- I may have… lost… it?" stumbled out Aspen, subconsciously beginigging to float backwards, away from Ava and away from his macabre cave of horrors. Ava's eyes widened as she began to float towards Aspen, frowning.

"You… what?"

"I'm sorry Ava, I swear I have no idea!" Aspen stumbled back, throwing her hands up in the air. In reality, she didn't lose the Moon Stone, she knew exactly where it was. It was with Tamar, given to him as a gift by Aspen herself. Of course, she absolutely couldn't tell Ava than she gave away her stone to a human, especially after what she just saw her do to that trainer.

"It's not like you to lose your things… and there's no way you could lose a Moon Stone," Ava's eyes narrowed, staring intently at Aspen.

"You're either hiding it from me, or you did something like give it away." Aspen's eyes widened as she instinctively backed away from Ava. Despite being a pretty awful Pokemon, she was incredibly shrewd and intelligent. She had totally figured out her scheme, but it had to be maintained, for Tamar's sake.

"That's false, I've wanted a Moon Stone, why would I just give it away? Plus, why would I ever hide anything from you?" she responded firmly, staring back at her counterpart. Hopefully, a strong confident answer like this could throw Ava off. It was worth mentioning that her pretend confidence was totally a facade, fear and nervousness wrecking her body. It seemed to work, as Ava only sneered.

"Liar." she muttered, as she turned around and floated over to the deceased trainer pinned on her wall, seemingly to freeze the rest of his body in ice and display him. Aspen sighed and turned around, hoping to leave the cave as soon as she could. Thank Arceus she met Tamar, someone who was actually kind to her, and listened to her, and wanted the best for her. Now she no longer had to deal with Ava as her only source of escape from solitude, her brutality, her disrespect, her-

"SHADOW BALL!"

* * *

Tamar whistled as he strolled down the paved winter path, watching his breath freeze and condense in the air. The day prior, after leaving Aspen's cavern, he made an immediate beeline for the Snowpoint PokeMart to sell his newly acquired Moon Stone. The resulting payout was beyond his expectations, a cool 250,000 PK. It was… overwhelming, to say the least. After years of scavenging and pawning, going hungry in the day and cold in the night, he now had a sizable sum of money to his name. After selling the stone, he snatched a down payment on a nice little apartment in Snowpoint's city centre, and went to the mall to buy a few things for himself… and Aspen.

Even as his previous day was filled with hectic emotions, dull negotiations with an equally dull landlord, and busy shopping, he still couldn't shake Aspen from his mind, her elegance and kindness to fork her rare stone over to him. Single handedly, just from that one action alone, Tamar's life had completely shifted. He went from homeless asshole to… homed asshole! What improvement! In seriousness, a permanent residence was critical to any progression in Sinnohian society, employers usually checked for that sort of thing. By this friendly Froslass giving him a Moon Stone, his life was finally on an upward trajectory. He owed… everything to her.

He continued to clamour down the forested path, his brand new purchased boots softly crunching the snow beneath him. In his right hand was a baggie stuffed with various berries and trinkets he had purchased for Aspen. It was really the least he could do, especially in comparison to the impact the Moon Stone had for him. He had promised to meet her again today at the North Acuity Lakefront area and look for stones together, a sort of… date… if you will.

Date. Heh, that wasn't something Tamar was quite familiar with. Sure, he had women he liked, and vice versa, but he never bothered pursuing. Part of it was insecurity, unsure that anyone he liked would return his feelings, especially due to his socio-economic conditions. Another part seemed to be a weird form of determination. Get out of the streets first, worry about getting all PG-13 later. He thought himself as relatively handsome, so finding a wife was probably not to be an issue. Or was it? Who knows, he never really thought about it in length.

His train of thoughts was interrupted again as he reached a large clearing at the end of the path, complete with beautiful pine trees surrounding the area. To the east of the clearing opening was frozen grass, which slowly transitioned to frozen sand, which transitioned to water. Mighty Lake Acuity loomed, with it's crystal clear still water and massive size. The largest lake in Sinnoh, Lake Acuity stretched for kilometers, seemingly never ending. To the west of the clearing was more trees, and a huge looming snow capped mountain, the beginning of the Acuity Mountain Range, which was an extension of Mount Coronet. This was North Acuity Lakefront, the planned rendezvous point for him and Aspen.

Tamar strolled down to the lakeshore, before slowly squatting, staring out over the lake. There were a lot of things he didn't like about Sinnoh's north, starting and ending with the crippling cold, but the natural beauty helped his overall opinion. The beaming sunlight shined upon the lake, giving it a glittery glow. He decided to stay stationary for a while. Who knows how long Aspen would take...If she even showed up.

' _I hope I look presentable…_ ' he thought to himself, glancing at his jacket sleeves. Tamar had gone above and beyond for today, slicked hair, trimmed beard, new Burberry-esque brown trench jacket, but… he wasn't sure why…

"Hi," a beautiful soft voice spoke to him from behind, a voice he immediately recognized. Swinging his head around, his assumptions on the origins of the voice were confirmed, as Aspen floated directly behind him, a smile stretched across her lips. The aforementioned beaming sun was shining directly onto her, leaving her body to almost glow in the sunlight. She looked… incredible.

Aspen's eyes widened as she caught a full view of her befriended human turn towards her. His long hair was slicked back, his beard was trimmed father, and he was wearing a long light brown trench coat. That certainly looked expensive, guess that's where the Moon Stone money went. But he also looked… really good. She cursed as she felt some of that unfamiliar and frustrating red swell up in her face. Regardless, she floated over.

"That's a nice coat, I'm guessing it's brand new?" inquired Aspen, glancing up and down. Tamar grinned.

"Yes ma'am, I snagged an apartment too, I'm finally off the streets, all thanks to you." _'Sick rhymes,'_ he thought to himself. Maybe he could pursue a career as a rapper once he settled down in his new apartment. Although that wouldn't be much of a stereotype buster... Shaking his head, He then raised his right arm, showcasing the baggie to Aspen.

"As a small token of my appreciation, I grabbed you some stuff from Snowpoint Mall, it's really the least I could do." Aspen could feel the flushed feeling in her face come back. He got stuff… for her? I guess it made sense regarding the Moon Stone she forked over, but it was still very nice of him. She silently cursed as she could feel the red blush cover her face. She was still quite unsure how the hell it was possible for her to blush, but whatever.

"T-T-Thank you…" she mumbled, softly grabbing the bag from his hand and giving it a stare. The contents were quite heavy, and anticipation began to build. Tamar smiled, before something caught his eye. In his scatterbrain thoughts, he didn't initially notice an abnormally large purplish bruise that had formed on her chest, directly above her pink bow like protrusion. Well… he did now.

"Hey, what the fuck happened there, is that a bruise?" Tamar asked, pointing to the mark on Aspen's body. Her eyes widened as she glanced down to the bruise, before glancing up at the concerned eyes of Tamar.

"Um… it's not technically a bruise… more like a stain, a mark…? I can't really bruise… no blood and all…"

"But… you blush? How does that work?" Tamar inquired. Aspen felt like she was hit by a truck, and the aforementioned blush came back with even more force. He noticed her blushes? Well that's awfully embarrassing. She began softly mumbling something, far too quiet for Tamar to hear. He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, but where did you get that mark? That looks very painful." Aspen snapped back to reality, before biting her lip. Did she really wanna tell him what happened, how she got this bruise? It could lead to a whole host of unintended consequences, but he was also the first actual 'friend' she's ever had. Aren't friends supposed to confide everything with each other? Tamar told her everything in that cave, from his homelessness to his quest to find affordable housing. She motioned him to follow her, and floated off the lakeshore and back towards the path out of the clearing. Tamar followed, his eyebrow perpetually raised.

"I know this other Froslass, named Ava…" she grumbled, gripping the handles of her baggie tighter. Tamar nodded, catching up and walking alongside Aspen down the path.

"Ava, Like-?"

"Like AVAlanche, yeah, very creative…" Aspen interrupted, rolling her eyes, voice dripping with sarcasm. Tamar nodded again before nervously clearing his throat, unsure if he was about to stumble upon some deep held trauma.

"I'm assuming that particular Froslass, Ava, caused that, right?" Tamar inquired, keeping his eye on the bruise/mark/spot as the pieces started to be placed together in his brain. Aspen nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah, that Moon Stone I gave you was actually hers, she gave it to me for some reason. Yesterday I went to her cave, and she wanted it, I said I lost it… and... she attacked…" Aspen struggled to mutter, voice clearly starting to waver. After Ava was done butchering that trainer and his Buizel, she demanded back her Moon Stone. Tamar glanced at her in sympathy, before starting to comprehend what she explained. Clearly, this twist added more questions than answers. Did Aspen put herself in danger just for him? Clearly this Froslass, Ava, fit the stereotype of her species more profoundly. Why did Aspen give him the stone in the first place if this other Froslass was so unhinged? Questions clouded his mind.

"Why even give me the stone then? Like, I appreciate it so much, but if it would piss off this other Froslass that much…" Aspen turned to face him with a look of severe agitation, spooking Tamar.

"Are you pinning this on me? I want to do one positive thing to someone I actually bonded with, knowing that dumb stone could do such a world of positives for you, and I'm an idiot? Oh no, not my psychopathic 'friend' who's killed dozens and enjoys nothing more than making sure I feel useless, unnatural, and freakish, I'M the one who's the fuck up here? I literally watched her rip out a living person's neck yesterday, but I'm the one who made the mistake?" Aspen ranted, her voice continuing to crack and waver, emotion slowly starting to overtake her. Tamar backed up, his eyes wide and body trembling, terrified of the outburst of the normally friendly, caring, yet timid Aspen. Nevermind that his question was not meant to be confrontational on purpose, it had struck a nerve with Aspen. Clearly she had bottled this in for a while…

"I'm sorry, It was a dumb-" Tamar's attempts at diplomacy was interrupted by an agitated Aspen, who continued on her rant. He could see her fists clench around the handles of her baggie, and her eyes showed internal anger, yet great sorrow.

"Actually, you're right. I am a useless fuck up. I've done nothing my whole life. I was useless as a Snorunt, and I'm even more useless as a Froslass. I don't interact with my environment, I float around and do literally nothing. I decorate a cave nobody will visit. I've been so alone for so long, and my only 'friend' is the embodiment of evil, who takes sick pleasure in crushing me with Shadow Balls, demeaning me and making me feel worthless, making me watch her slaughter for fun. But now that I think about it, isn't that what my species does? Then why don't I? What's my point of fucking existence? I have nothing, and I have nothing to aspire for…"

Aspen slumped down to a nearby tree, catching her breath after her explosive rant. Burying her head into her hands, she began to softly sob. Frozen tears trickled out of her eyes and into her icy mask, her body slowly shaking in a fit of emotion and agony. Tamar stared in disbelief, unsure what to do or say after that outburst. What was there to say? Silence filled the forest once again, the quiet only interrupted by the soft sobs of Aspen. His position was especially precarious now. As much as he liked Aspen… She was still a Froslass. One wrong move or wrong action and it could be the end of his life. Then again, he couldn't bear to see her broken like this. Hell, they were the same person! Living an unfulfilled life, tormented by people and no prospects for the future? It was like looking into a mirror. Plus, if he died, at least he would die comforting someone he cared about…

Tamar slowly stepped towards Aspen, careful not to startle her. Her soft sobs turned to sniffles, as she started directly down at the ground in front of her, unmoving. She had never opened up like this to anyone before, and she was terrified to see how Tamar would react. She half expected him to run off, no normal being would see a Froslass yell like that and stick around for a closer look. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she felt a presence sit down right beside her, Tamar.

"Me and you really are the same, huh?" Tamar muttered, meanderingly kicking at some snow directly in front of him. Aspen sighed.

"I guess…" she responded, still glaring at the ground.

"Y'know, a lot of days, I wonder what the point of living is too," he softly spoke, staring directly at Aspen. "Being homeless is tough in more ways than one. You're not only struggling for the necessities to survive, but you get no respect either. People hate you, they think you're a burden to society, I can't go panhandling because I'm afraid police and citizenry will attack me for bothering them. Hell, that's why I'm always up here in the forest trying to find stones, so I make people… respect me, in a sense. But deep down, I know they won't. I'll still be the poor mixed race guy who begged for money outside of Snowpoint Temple…"

Aspen looked up from the ground and directly into Tamar eyes. She could see the hurt, the pain, everything that he went through in his life reflected in them. His beautiful eyes stared deep into her own, unblinking.

"So yeah, I totally understand what you're saying. What's the point of living? What's the point of existence? Should I keep going? I struggled with that stuff when I was moving to Snowpoint alone as a teenager, I struggled with that stuff as Snowpoint Police beat me senseless with a baton for 'loitering', and I still struggle with it now." Aspen felt her heart shatter as she listened to him continue to elucidate his life. He was such a kind, thoughtful person, why did he deserve such treatment?

"Have you found an answer yet? Anything close to it?" Aspen inquired, her eyes softly draping back to the ground.

"Yeah. You." Tamar replied smiling, causing Aspen's eyes to snap open in surprise and her heart to start beating with sudden rapidness. "You saved my life, and you've given me a new one with that Moon Stone. You're the first real friend I've even known, and I've only met you… once? Twice, if we count today? You're an incredible Pokemon, and an even more incredible spirit. I owe nothing but gratitude to you. Whereas humans view me for my economic class, my skin colour, whatever, you haven't. We're all we got in this tough, shitty world, you know? And I wanna value that. So what if you're not like others in your species, I think anyone would rather have a Froslass with your caring personality as opposed to whatever that bitch Ava has. I know you've been alone, but please remember, from here on out, you'll have me, forever and always."

Aspen sat there, truly at a loss for words. Her heart was pretty much exploding out of her chest, she felt like she could faint right there on the spot. Nobody had ever said such things to her before. A massive genuine smile stretched across her face. She could feel little frozen tears of joy start to form in her eyes, before she quickly wiped them away.

"Thank you… so much… I f-f-feel the exact s-same way" she stuttered. Damnit, out of all times to stutter, she stutters now? Tamar only smiled.

"Make no mistake though, I'm a pretty awful person, remember that Bidoof thing I told you about? I nearly punted that little bastard halfway across the centre!" he chuckled, hoping to add a little bit of comedy to make her laugh. It succeeded, as Aspen covered her mouth to attempt to stifle some giggles. "In all seriousness, the fact I can understand what you're saying is evident enough that we have some sort of special bond going on here. Just remember, I'll be here for you whenever I can, and if that includes pulling a switchblade on Ava or something, I'll do it!"

Aspen continued to stare at him, her heart still in the dual processes of melting and exploding out of her chest at the same time. She felt like she could wrap her arms around him and hold him forever, maybe even do a few other things… wait, what? Did she really just envision that? Blushing bad at certain thoughts that just sprung into her brain, she decided to continue the shifting conversation to Ava, leaving the tender moment in the past.

"I don't recommend pulling out a blade on a Froslass," Aspen giggled, shaking her head. Tamar only rolled his eyes in response.

"Don't worry Aspy, I have the heart of a Pyroar." Aspen felt another blush coming on as her new nickname permeated through her head. Aspy? She… didn't mind that. It was cute, _'a cute nickname from a cute human'_ she thought, before shaking that out of her head. Tamar slowly grunted as he pulled himself up to his legs, before stepping in front of Aspen and extending his hand.

"C'mon Aspy, let's go rock hunting." he grinned. Aspen stared at his bare hand, before grinning back and grabbing it with her own, her heart jumping again at the skin on skin contact. Tamar easily pulled her up onto an upright position.

* * *

As they began to move away and back down a path, A certain Pokemon that had been watching them this whole time, hidden behind a tree nearly 20 meters, moved out and began floating through the trees westward, hand on her chin.

"So that's where my Moon Stone went..." muttered Ava, slipping between trees. "Aspen's got a little friend over there." A devious smirk began to form across her face, as nasty plots generated in her mind.

"Well, that just makes my life a lot more interesting," she grinned, rubbing her hands together.

* * *

The cold wind blew through the trees, but not at the frantic hurried pace that would occur during a typical nighttime Acuity blizzard. Instead, a soft gentle icy breeze strolled through the area, gently pushing Tamar's hair left. The stars of the sky emitted their soft glow, the pitch black sky only interrupted by the shining moon. Silence overcame North Acuity, the whistling of the trees and slow wind the only sounds to be heard. That, and Tamar's boots hitting the snow. Aspen had essentially begged Tamar to take him to a mountain peak that she knew of, and who was he to disagree? She had been living up here for however long, she probably knew some sweet sightlines. He made sure he packed a lot of food… just in case he gets lost.

"Hurry up, we're almost there!" exclaimed Aspen, gracefully slipping between the trees on their upward incline, but still keeping a below average speed as not to abandon her friend. Tamar, for his efforts, huffed and puffed as he scampered up the inclining mountainside, trying not to slip on the snow below his feet. He had promised he'd accompany her up here when it was a clear night, and well, there was nary a cloud in sight, so he had to fulfill his end of the bargain. It was probably worth it anyway.

The next few days after their first rendezvous at North Acuity Lakefront had been more of the same. Meet at the lake, go hunt for stones, and just generally enjoy each other's company. As much jubilation Aspen got from these "dates" however, the threat of Ava still lingered in the back of her mind. It was five days since she smacked her down with a Shadow Ball and demanded her Moon Stone back, and Aspen still hadn't found a solution. As much as Tamar urged her to act, using his… colourful stories with other Snowpoint homeless as a point of reference, she knew she couldn't stand up to her non shiny counterpart. Ava was freakishly strong, she was a decorated battler, and had a severe ruthless streak. What would she do to her? More importantly, what would she do if she discovered the existence of Tamar?

Tamar. Tamar Tamar Tamar. That name invaded her thoughts 24/7, the handsome human almost constantly on her mind. After a bit of internal monologue, she realized what she thought about him. She… well… liked him. How much? That much was uncertain, but it surely was a lot more than just a human-pokemon companionship. His kindness, humour, and well… attractiveness, were all very prevalent.

"Are we there yet, Apsy?" yelled Tamar, getting sick and tired of all this walking. Aspen, blushing at her nickname, only pointed to the ground. It had flattened out, indicating that they had made the summit. Tamar grunted as he pushed through the last few trees, before breaking into the large empty clearing on the peak of the mountain. The mountain was tall, but not tall enough that there was a severe temperature drop or massive slopes that could endanger him. Aspen was not gonna put him in danger like that.

Tamar's eyes widened as he stared out the edge of the peak. He could see almost all of the Acuity Lakefront, huge swaths of the lake itself, and the glowing lights of Snowpoint City in the distance. The wind softly rustled the surrounding trees below back and forth, and the glittering stars of the night sky provided ample illumination.

"It's gorgeous…" remarked Tamar, with a grinning Aspen floating right beside him.

"Not bad? This, alongside Mount Gigas, is my favourite peak to visit at night, provided it's not a total blizzard."

"Which is 99% of the nights here," Tamar responded accompanied by an eyeroll, before breaking into his backpack to pull out a large tent. They had planned to sleep here, so he made sure he went all out, buying a huge thermo-controlled tent equipped with inside heating. How it could roll into his backpack was a mystery, but it was developed by Silph, and those guys could pretty much develop a cure for all known diseases if they so please.

"This tent has a big clear flat roof, so when I'm done setting it up, wanna stargaze with me?" asked Tamar with a smile, as he began to roll the tent out. Aspen raised an equivalent of an eyebrow.

"What's that?" Tamar turned to her completely befuddled, staring at her like she just turned into a Palkia or something. Aspen could feel herself get slightly flustered over his stare.

"You've lived in the wild and never thought to look up? Whatever, when I'm done, I'll show ya…" Tamar spoke, before turning his attention back to the tent. Aspen cursed her lack of knowledge, before sighing and floating over to help.


	5. Ideas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5! Thank you for the nice reviews, they mean so much to me :)

"Ok, so once we leave Veilstone Station through the northeast entrance, we'll be on Hazel Avenue. We'll just need to walk for maybe 10-15 minutes, and we'll be at the hotel, where we'll meet the Professor."

Tamar ran his index finger over the map, dragging across the aforementioned Hazel Avenue.

"Why are you so worried? ESLF won't recognize us when I'm invisible and you're covered up?" Inquired Aspen, sitting right beside Tamar on the bed, peering over his shoulder to analyze the map with him. The train sped along, with the scenery through the massive window to their immediate right seemingly blurring along at a frenzied pace. Tamar had rented out a nice little room on the sleeper bullet train, since the journey from Snowpoint to Veilstone was roughly seven hours. It was nothing special, a small bathroom, a decently sized queen sized bed, a lockable door, eight by eight dimensions. Wood finishes adorned the door, the walls, and the bottom of the bed. A small desk lay right beside the bed, where the aforementioned map was sitting on.

Not only did the room provide some semblance of privacy and comfort from the watchful peering eyes of the world, but it meant Aspen could be out of her Pokeball. Aspen couldn't exactly be out in public, for a variety of reasons ranging from species reputation to her personal fame.

"I don't know, the ESLF are a bunch of twitchy paranoids with a lot of resources and power. Best keep our head as low as possible. Not tryna die, y'know?" Aspen smirked.

"Heh, remember a year ago when we met? You went wandering into situations that almost assured your death, wonder what changed…" she playfully prodded.

"Well, as it turns out, having money and a mate is directly proportional to my will to live. Who would've thunk it," replied Tamar, his eyes slightly rolling, "All that I'm saying is, once we leave the station, go invisible and be on high alert, just in case any masked individuals try to make a run for it." Aspen nodded.

"Don't worry Tee-Tee, anyone who even looks at you the wrong way will regret it." Confidently replied Aspen, puffing out her chest a little.

"You know I hate that nickname Aspy, it's quite… uh... What's the word… cringe?"

"I know," grinned Aspen, "That's why I'm gonna keep using it."

* * *

"It's so nice you were able to get an apartment Tamar, but I'll miss ya…"

Tamar glanced up at Nurse Joy, an expression of disappointment washed across her face. He guessed it made sense, he had constantly been around and they had become good friends.

"Hey now, I'm sure I'll swing around here often, simply just to say hello to you and Andrei…" he remarked, his arm leaning on the desk of the Pokemon Centre reception. His sight of vision was interrupted from what appeared to be a worker plastering a large poster on the wall behind Nurse Joy. She caught his glance, before turning around to check out the poster as well. She chuckled.

"Yeah, the Snowpoint Singles Tournament is starting up pretty soon, trainers are flocking in from all over the Republic, so we've been putting up a lot of promotional material," Explained Nurse Joy, turning back around. Tamar glanced around the Pokemon Centre. It appeared to be way busier than usual, and he had seen a pretty high congregation of powerful Pokemon hanging out with their trainers recently. Hell, he spotted a Garchomp walking with it's trainer on Iceway Avenue just yesterday! But Snowpoint is perpetually cold… and with the quad weakness, he doubted the Garchomp was having a satisfying stroll…

"Yeah, it's always an event when the Singles come up here. Any notable guests? Aside from Cynthia, of course." Inquired Tamar, scanning the aforementioned poster, which announced a training session with Sinnoh's champion as one of the grand prizes. Nurse Joy nodded.

"Yeah, I think a Frontier Brain will serve as a commentator, not sure which one though. The organizers are really going all out this year, Jubilife TV will be televising the whole thing, they tripled the amount of money the winner gets, it's really quite something…"

"Yeah, all that fuckin port money finally getting invested in the city…" grumbled Tamar, "what are the requirements for entry?" Nurse Joy laughed.

"Having a Pokemon, Tamar, that's the first one," she sarcastically quipped, leading to Tamar rolling his eyes, "But also a 10,000 Poke payment for entry, I believe."

Tamar pondered. He had always wanted to enter the tournament, and now that he had some leftover Moon Stone money to spare, now would be a perfect time. Deep down, his childlike wonder of Pokemon battles while growing up a scampering rascal in the streets of Veilstone City was still buried underneath his sarcastic exterior. Sure, he still didn't exactly have a job, but if he impressed at the tournament, maybe a whole new world of possibilities would open up for him. But… he didn't have a Pokemon...

* * *

Tamar strolled down the Acuity Lakefront Path, bundled up for the extra cold temperatures. There was nary a cloud in the sky as the sun offered some respite to the frigid temperatures. However, the cold wasn't the main thing on his mind, nor the extra foot of snow that had clogged the path thanks to an overnight blizzard. Instead, it was the Froslass he had tightly befriended, the Froslass he had spent every day of the past week with, the Froslass who he could inexplicitly understand fluently, Aspen. There was a very particular purpose to why he was braving the cold morning breeze of the Acuity Parish, and it all involved a question he had wished to ask. With this thought in his mind, he dug through the front pocket of his trench coat to retrieve a certain item. Grasping his hand around the Ultra Ball, he yanked it out of the pocket and stared at it, the glittery shiny ball reflecting the sunlight. He was gonna try something absurd, something that didn't make a lot of sense, something that could potentially entangle him with legal authorities.

He was gonna try to catch Aspen. Or more specifically, ask her to become his Pokemon.

Crazy, right? How was it even possible? Pokemon like Froslass were so strictly regulated by powerful government authorities that trying to catch one without the necessary prerequisites was essentially begging for punishment. But… there were ways to get around the system, if you knew the right people, maybe slipped a few Poke here and there, you could meander through and get the permit to own one. And if he had Nurse Joy's approval, who was a super influential community member in her own right, it could go a long way.

In all honesty, it probably wasn't the smartest decision, and definitely not the rational one. He couldn't put his finger on why he decided he wanted her as his Pokemon, maybe for pride? For a flex of sorts? Only a select handful of individuals had officially owned a Froslass, and they were highly qualified with a minimum of six badges. On the contrary, Tamar was a homeless man who had never owned a Pokemon in his life, let alone won a singular badge. How could he possibly skirt around the authorities like that?

Regardless, he was determined. He knew Aspen was incredibly bored with her life, and it made sense. Wandering around North Acuity and picking up rocks isn't exactly the most glamorous lifestyle, and Tamar would know, because that's pretty much what he did for a living before he met the Snow Land Pokemon. He figured that capturing her and letting her hang around the city would be more interesting to her. Of course, Froslasses couldn't exactly be out in public, so this idea was probably more self rationalization than anything. In reality, he just really liked being around her. He supposed this was the fluffy "THUPER SPESHUL BOND" that literally every trainer felt about their Pokemon…

Tamar's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shiver that jolted up his spine. The shudder snapped him into reality, as his surroundings seemed to get more… eerie. The grating whistling wind seemed to cease, an uneasy and deafening silence falling upon the forest. The only audible sound was the soft crunching of snow beneath his feet. Everything seemed… so much colder. Tamar felt his instincts screaming at him, and they were saying 'LEAVE, NOW.' He stared up at the sky. He was maybe ten minutes out from Aspen's cave. Should he keep going? Something felt horribly wrong. Like someone was… watching him. Almost immediately after this thought, his attention was grabbed by a soft sound that was emitting from deep within the forest to his left. The sound could be best described as rapidly rushing air, something was moving within the trees. Swinging his head, he could feel himself jump as a black silhouette zoomed behind the far reaches of the pine forest, hiding behind the bark. What the hell was that?

Tamar gulped. He was not one to take any sort of chances. It could be a wild Pokemon, a hunter, anything, but he was in no mood to find out. Getting ready to turn around, he was frozen in fear as he peered down the lakefront path directly ahead, seeing the mystery figure at the end, maybe fifty or sixty metres away. Long kimono, floating… Was that Aspen? Tamar squinted. It was just a bit too far for him to identify whether the bow was pink or red. Was she playing a prank on him? Trying to give him a fright?She wasn't much of a scarer. Well, she kinda spooked him yesterday, but that's because she glomped him from behind and pretty much tackled him to the ground. But this figure… it didn't seem right. He couldn't put an exact finger on it, but the way it was floating, the way everything seemed to come to a standstill, the way the silence was imprisoned on the forest. The figure was staring directly at him, and he could swear it was grinning...

" _Fross~~~"_

Tamar's eyes snapped wide open. That wasn't Aspen. That wasn't Aspen at all. He couldn't understand what she said. It was just a regular Froslass, and that was bad news. Her voice, spoken in almost a whisper tone, reverberated throughout the path and burrowed in his ears.

Without hesitation, Tamar spun around and began clamouring into the forest, hoping to lose the Froslass in the trees. Struggling through the knee deep snow, his pace was considerably snow for the amount of energy he was exerting. He dared not check behind him, just keep running. Maybe she didn't see him? Maybe she decided he wasn't worth her time? His desperate optimism was unfounded, as he heard something that made his skin crawl. Giggling. She was giggling.

* * *

Ava began snickering loudly at the hapless human sprinting into the forest. Did he really expect to lose her there? Oh well, now her favourite part of the day was forthcoming: The hunt. She zoomed into the thick trees, keeping a distance from the human, yet still keeping an eye on him. In reality, she could catch up to him in an instant, she could easily float through the trees while the human struggled through the snow, but that was no fun.

 _"Let's fuck with him a little bit,"_ thought Ava, as she watched Tamar stumble through the frozen woods, a massive grin stretched across her face.

* * *

Aspen sighed as she floated down the path. Tamar was supposed to be by her cave twenty minutes ago, yet he never showed up. He had probably just gotten lost, right? No, that doesn't make sense, he's been to her cave a few times since their fateful first encounter roughly eight or nine days ago. He knew very well where it was. Maybe he just didn't come today? Or maybe something worse happened…

Aspen shook that thought out of her head. What a silly thing to think, Tamar had lived through tough conditions for years. He wouldn't put himself into obvious danger, and he was resourceful enough to get out of any unsatisfactory situations that may arise.

Still, she was incredibly worried about him, and figured that a small patrol around the area wouldn't hurt. Floating down the pathway, she was slightly surprised at the quiet aura that had befallen the area. Usually, the Lakefront was bustling with Pokemon, usually scrambling away from her, but it was especially silent today. Aspen… didn't like that. She had peculiar instincts that came with being a part ghost type, and she could feel like something was horribly wrong. The freezing cold of the air seemed more stuffy than usual. The wind had mainly ceased. Her anxiousness rose as she glanced to her right, seeing a scrambled array of footprints embedded in the snowbank, seemingly extending into the forest.


	6. Vengence

Tamar silently growled as he scrolled through his phone, trying to find the Poketech app that displayed a map of the city. It had been four years since he stepped foot in the "The City Hewn From Rock," and it was as congested and busy as he remembered it. Masses of humanity and Pokemon streamed in and out of Veilstone Station, clogging up Hazel Avenue. The station itself was seemingly a direct contrast to the intricate beauty of St Acuity Station in Snowpoint, for it was merely a light grey concrete block. "Brutalism," that was the name of the architectural style, and it certainly lived up to that moniker. The station was built during the height of the Sinnohian People's Republic, something to do with the "practicality and innovation of the working class," all this was before Tamar's time, so he was unaware of the details. He guessed the good thing is that this aforementioned brick of a station had many little crevices and gaps on the exterior, a needed respite from the busy sidewalk. Tamar had ducked himself into one of those aforementioned crevices, scrolling through his phone to get directions. Turns out using a physical map from thirty years ago wasn't the best solution.

Despite the relatively lukewarm temperature blanketing the city, Tamar was completely bundled up, hiding his identity under a combination of scarves and sunglasses. One couldn't even see his face, which was exactly his intention. The ESLF was quite prominent in Veilstone…

"Can you pick up the pace, Tee-Tee? I can't keep like this forever…" Grumbled Aspen, who was floating in front of Tamar, completely disgusted in an invisibility cloak. Most ghosts had this ability, and it was certainly handy to have at the moment. If Tamar couldn't be seen in public, that was doubled up for Aspen.

"Don't worry, I think I got a hold of it." Replied Tamar. As he danced his fingers around the screen, a pop up ad immediately caught his attention, which he read aloud.

"Pokemon News Press featured article: The Iceman of Snowpoint, an inside look at the reclusive star from Sinnoh's north."

"They just love using that nickname, huh?" Aspen replied, snickering.

"It's really, really lame. How hard is it to call me Tamar? The Iceman sounds like a D rate cartoon villain." He ranted, annoyance dripping from his voice.

"Well, you're cool enough to have a nickname, so that's pretty neat…"

"Yeah, an obtuse one. I'm not even from the north! Well, it's not like the Sinnohian media has things like fact checkers… or integrity…"

"Uhhh… that's great and all," impatiently whistled Aspen, "but I have twenty minutes until my invisibility wears off, so can you hurry it up?"

* * *

" _Run. Just run."_

Tamar struggled through the knee high snow as his brain continued to howl at him to keep going. How long had he been running? Fifteen minutes? Twenty? He didn't know, but he was certain it was a decent chunk of time. He was building up quite a sweat from this exertion of energy, which didn't exactly bode well for the freezing sub zero temperatures of Lake Acuity. The wind had picked up at a frenzied pace, the cold air felt like it was jabbing at his lungs. It had begun to hail, miniscule ice shards hitting the ground. Visibility was clearly a concern here, Tamar could barely see ten feet in front of him. Surely this hail was whipped up by his pursuer… he could hear her giggling consistently as he struggled through the knee deep snow.

That fucking giggling. It was horrifying.

The chasing Froslass's silhouette would occasionally illuminate through the frantic hailstorm before disappearing again, almost like she was taunting him. The temperature felt colder and colder, as Tamar grappled through the never ending maze of trees and snow.

Terror filled every fibre of Tamar's body. He was going to die. How could he possibly escape? Maybe he would run into a Pokemon Ranger that would fend off the Froslass for him. That was incredibly unlikely though. He could feel tears well up in his eyes as his legs began to slowly buckle on him. The one time he had optimism for his life, the one time he had something resembling a future it was to be ripped away from him. Tamar was now the plaything of this maniacal Froslass, his life now reliant on her very whims.

Suddenly, everything… went quiet. The hail began reducing. A sudden, eerie peacefulness emerged. The flickering silhouette hadn't been seen for a while.

The giggling stopped. The hail seemed to subside. Did he lose her?

Tamar's entire body screamed in pain. His legs, a vicious combination of cold temperatures and constant running, had evoked a sensation that could best be described as thousands of knives stabbing all at once. As much as his brain yelled at him to keep running, keep going, his body couldn't keep up with the urgency. Collapsing under a nearby tree, Tamar slowly caught his breath as he scanned his surroundings. The snow, which was knee deep, covered much of his lower body sitting down, primarily his legs. Various pine trees swayed back and forth, the frigid air setting over the forest. Nothing was among the trees. Eerie silence had descended upon the area. Bright white snow as far as the eye could see. To his right was a large clearing, packed with the bright white snow. He had probably hit the edge of this particular forest.

"Lord… help me..." Tamar sighed through his scarf, placing his hand on his chest. All that running had taken a real toll on him, and the constant adrenaline rush had sent his head for a tizzy. He wasn't sure if he lost the Froslass, but the hail had ceased, and he couldn't see her anywhere. He silently cursed his bad luck, this would probably be the last time he would have to come up into North Acuity, and he happened to run into the last Pokemon you'd want to see up north. He had only traveled to catch Aspen… Speaking of, was she worried for him? He was never late to their meetings, well, until now. Maybe she was looking for him too, maybe she fended off that other Froslass, maybe…

He shook his head. No point in sticking around theorizing, Tamar knew he had to get out of the forest and back to safety, just to be sure. Clutching his trench coat, and taking a deep breath, Tamar placed both his hands into the soft powder snow for support, and attempted to lift himself up on his feet.

"ARRGHHHH"

Upon trying to move his legs, a severe sharp pain screamed through his body. Tamar gasped in agony as he toppled down to the ground, instinctively grabbing his legs. The "1000 stabby knife" sensation had made an unwelcome return, but somehow even more painful. Feeling up his legs with his hands, Tamar's eyes widened, before shutting again as a new rush of pain swept through his figure. They felt numb. His body was in suffering, but his legs were numb. Pressing his thumb up against his calf, his touch was greeted by the feeling of… something solid? Cold? Cold and solid? Were his legs frozen? How was that possible? Digging snow out from under himself to get a better view of his legs, Tamar was greeted by two icy blocks attached to each of his calves, creating two bulges in his snow pants. Attempting to lift himself up again led to the same result, tumbling back into the snow in anguish.

"Are you fucking… how…fuck man…. FUCK." Wailed Tamar in desperation, as he flopped back to the ground for the third time, the tormenting pain continuing to tear through his body. He couldn't move. He had just lost this Froslass, and now he was stuck on the ground. He tried to crush the ice blocks with his flailing fists, but to no avail. A few minutes of fruitless struggling later, and no progress was made in any capacity. Slamming the back of his head into the tree he was slumped on, a new fresh set of tears formed on his face. What were these icy blocks? Why were they stuck on him? What was he going to do? The pain of his previous struggles had largely subsided, his body largely feeling desensitized now.

Through his tears, his attention snapped to directly in front of him, as he spotted a malicious figure some ways away. Upon initial inspection, Tamar immediately recognized who it was. The Froslass that had been chasing him. Her kimono was gracefully blowing back and forth, and her mouth twisted into a massive macabre grin.

Ava couldn't help but laugh at the helpless human she trapped. All that hail he was running through? No, that was just her Icy Wind, specifically targeting his legs. She knew he was stuck, she had frozen his lower half. And by using some ghostly manipulation on those ice blocks on his legs, they weren't melting anytime soon. She was all his. Admittedly, she could've killed him anytime during their chase, but she found it far more fun to go invisible, cease her attack, and give him the illusion that he had lost her. Crushing what little optimism he had left gave her a satisfied feeling, and watching him flounder on the ground was hilarious. She squinted at the human, who was roughly five meters away.

" _Fross...Lass…Fro? (So, you're Aspen's little friend, eh?),"_ Giggled Ava. Tamar gulped. He had no idea what she was saying, but it sure sounded like she was taunting him…

"Fuck you…" He snarled back through gritted teeth. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of showing fear, although he was quite scared. Ava sheepishly rolled her eyes. How rude of him.

She continued to stare at Tamar, considering her next steps. She could take him back to her cave and finish him off there, or she could kill him here. Although she thoroughly enjoyed the chase, there was no reason to continue beating around the bush. Plus, she wanted to kill him quickly so she could show his corpse to Aspen.

" _FROSLASS! (ICE BEAM!),"_ Ava cried, forming a beam of icy energy between her hands. In the blink of an eye, she thrusted her arms forward, sending the ray directly towards Tamar.

Tamar watched as the powerful Ice Beam rushed towards him, a shot aimed directly at his heart. As much as his brain screamed for him to get up, roll away, anything… he couldn't move. His exhaustion had finally gotten the best of him. The previous emotion of terror that dominated his mind soon gave way to resignation. He was to die. Even worse, there would be no afterlife for him. His soul was to be devoured, he figured everything would just go dark… forever. A fitting end for his disappointing life. As the Ice Beam sped closer and time slowed, Tamar closed his eyes.

Visions and flashbacks of an admittedly unfulfilled existence sped through his mind. Awkwardly eating fast food value meals with his mother as a child. Curling up underneath a crane in Port of Snowpoint for any sort of shelter from the snowfall. Getting harassed by authorities at the Snowpoint Temple, desperately avoiding the harsh respite of their batons. Digging through a snowbank to find stones, hands freezing thanks to his worn out, hole-filled gloves. Hanging out… with Aspen. Watching the stars… with Aspen...

" _Guess it wasn't all bad,"_ he thought to himself. He hoped she wouldn't miss him… With his eyes closed, he failed to see a speedy white blur rushing towards the Ice Beam.

***BOOM***

An explosion rocked through the forest, shaking the ground with potency. The epicentre of the bang had occured right in front of him, creating enough force for Tamar to be pushed back on the tree. His eyes snapped open, the bright sunlight penetrating his vision. Dark black smoke filled the air directly in front of him, disrupting his line of sight. Tamar immediately checked his chest. No wounds. No injuries. Other than a little bit of ringing in his ears, he was fine. What happened to the Ice Beam? His mind slowly started to make the necessary connections. It must have been intercepted. But by what? He squinted his eyes through the dense smoke to be greeted by a figure standing in front of him, the first thing he noticed was a pink bow.

"Aspy?" Tamar gasped.

Aspen turned her head around, her body still slightly engulfed from the smoke, and weakly smiled. Between her hands was a small blob of dark shadowy energy, bobbing back and forth. Even though Tamar's vision was badly obstructed, he could see that Aspen had taken the brunt of the Ice Beam's damage, her body was marked up and she was slightly cringing in pain. She had intercepted the beam with Shadow Ball… or Shadow Blob… it clearly wasn't an attack she had mastered. But she saved his life… and injured herself in the process.

"Are you okay!?" Questioned Tamar, instinctively attempting to stand up to help her before collapsing back on the ground, writhing in pain. Aspen's eyes widened at his attempt, Ava had clearly frozen his legs. She turned around to her "friend," who was slowly starting to become visible through the clearing smoke. Ava, for her efforts, had a surprised look on her face.

"I'm okay Tamar… don't worry." Aspen calmly replied, before dissipating the Shadow Ball and slightly twitching in pain. Tamar had never heard this tone of voice from Aspen before. He was used to a shy, soft, friendly timbre, but her current voice was filled with… determination… it slightly comforted him, in spite of the circumstances. Aspen grumbled as she pushed some darkened snow from the explosion off her arm. Even though Ava's Ice Beam was not very effective, it still packed a powerful punch. And since Aspen wasn't much of a battler, her Shadow Ball only provided minimal protection as she zoomed towards Ava's attack to cut it off. Still, Aspen glared daggers at her non-shiny counterpart, hatred burning in her eyes.

"Leave him alone, Ava…" Aspen growled, Tamar's eyes widening at the name mentioned. So this was Ava, Aspen's friend she had told him about? The one that tortured humans for fun? Ava burst out laughing in response.

"Are you kidding me? Defending the life of a human? My goodness Aspen, how pathetic are you?" Howled Ava, slapping the top of her head with her hand. Aspen clenched her fists, protectively floating in front of Tamar. She had seen what Ava had done to innocent people and Pokemon before, she was haunted by the visions of that dismembered Buizel in her cave, that dying trainer trapped on her wall, the numerous ice sculptures that used to be living, breathing organisms. And now Ava was hunting the one person she truly cared about? Aspen extended out her arms.

"You'll have to get through me first."

An unnatural silence followed. Tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. The two Froslasses, separated by no more than five metres, glared at each other, their bodies gently swaying in the wind. Tamar gulped as he tried to move his legs once more, to no avail. Didn't she say Ava was very strong? He didn't want Aspen to be severely hurt along with him… the aforementioned vindictive Ava snarled as she raised her left arm.

"Fine then, I'll kill you both! OMINOUS WIND!" She cried, swinging her arm in a slapping motion. Just then, forming seemingly out of thin air, a purple ghostly wind rushed towards both Aspen and Tamar, threatening to hit them both. Aspen, wide eyed, immediately swung around, clamouring on top of Tamar, throwing her arms over his head, covering him from the brunt of the attack.

"Aspy, just get out of here, please!" Begged Tamar, and he watched the impact of the ghastly gust strike into Aspen, her eyes clenched in pain. Super effective. She glanced down at him, giving him a sad smile, before the force of the Ominous Wind forced her upwards, smacking directly into a nearby tree. Tamar cringed at the horrible thwack sound it produced.

Aspen groaned as she slowly floated back upright, weakly putting up her hands in a fighting stance. Ava could land strong attacks, no doubt. Upon initial analysis of her surroundings, Ava was nowhere to be seen. She probably went invisible...

"SUCKER PUNCH!" Aspen swung her head left to be greeted with a dark glowing fist smashing directly into her face, sending her flying into the air. Sucker Punch, a Dark Type priority move, also dealt super effective damage. Landing crumpled in the snow, Aspen could feel her head spinning, her body in searing pain, and the maniacal laughter of Ava filling the air. Struggling to get back to an upright floating position, she collapsed back into the snow.

"No…" Meekly muttered Tamar, watching his friend slump back into the snow bank. She wasn't knocked out, but she clearly couldn't battle anymore either. His concern was soon interrupted by Ava suddenly materializing right in front of him, her frosty aura sending shivers down his spine. In the blink of an eye, she rushed her hand towards Tamar's scarf that was covering his face, and ripped it off. Ava stared at the bare faced human for what felt like an eternity, her breath freezing up his face.

" _Froslass… Fross…Lass... Lass (Heh… You're not the ugliest human in the world… Maybe you can have a few other uses)_." Ava coyly smirked, slowly dragging one of her fingers up the front of his neck. Tamar could only gulp as he continued to tremble, unsure of what her intentions were with him. Couldn't a Froslass freeze someone with just their breath? Well, this one was as close as could be, and he was still alive… Well, for now, at least. His nervous contemplation came to a screeching halt when Ava snatched his face with her exploratory hand, digging her fingers into his skin.

" _Froslass… Lass (Nah, I'll just kill you now)_." Ava calmly commented.

Aspen groaned as she lifted her head out of the snow, her head still dazed. Those attacks landed a serious punch. Direct hit Ice Beam plus a super effective dual combination of Ominous Wind and Sucker Punch? Look, she was no pushover, but getting smacked around like that wasn't easy to take. Wiping snow away from the front of her face, she slowly cranked her head upwards. Her eyes widened as she analyzed the scene in front of her. Ava had her hands on Tamar's face. She had… That look. Her fingers were digging in.

This exact scenario played out a week ago. A rushing flashback smashed into Aspen's mind. The poor trainer with the Buizel, getting his throat ripped out. His final gargles of life, the blood pouring out of the removed flesh, overflowing on Ava's hand, and onto the cave floor. The overpowering stench of iron that wafed through the cavern. Her smile. Her evil fucking smile. It was happening all over again.

Simultaneously, another flashback invaded her mind, or more specifically, multiple flashbacks, running together like a sort of montage. Meeting Tamar for the first time. Sharing berries. Digging through the variety of gifts he got her the following day. Having a snowball fight with the backdrop of Lake Acuity. Hiking up to the mountain peaks and watching the stars together. Her trying to figure out her feelings towards the human. Trying to figure out why her face felt like a furnace whenever he was close by. Trying to figure out why she thought about him nearly all the time. Trying to figure out that funny feeling in her stomach whenever he said something complimentary about her. Well, she did figure it out.

She loved him. Ava was trying to rip him away from her.

A new surge of power coursed through Aspen, as she quietly began to float back into an upright position. Snow that had accumulated on her body gently began to slide off and hit the ground. Her previous thoughts, flashbacks, and anything else was washed away by a new dominant emotion. Rage. Sheer rage. How dare Ava even lay a finger on Tamar. HER Tamar. After years upon years of torment, abuse, and mockery at her vile hands, she was now trying to harm what mattered most to her. Aspen's mind was completely clouded, her eyes locked in on Ava.

Blue orbs began to orbit around her hands, and the temperature nearby began to plummet even colder. Any sort of organic matter very close to Aspen was at a risk of freezing immediately. Cocking her right arm back, the blue orbs followed and began to spin with increased rapidness, manifesting into a light blue beam. Small icicles began to form on the ground directly below the beam. Ava was going to pay. Aspen would make sure of it.

"SHEER COLD!"

"Sheer what?" Ava and Tamar both asked simultaneously in their respective native tongues, voices dripping with shock. Sheer Cold was probably the strongest known move in the Pokemon world. It plunged temperatures to near absolute zero. It knocked out opponents in one hit. Outside of battle, if not contained, it killed every living thing in its path. And well… they certainly weren't in battle now. They both swung their heads to witness Aspen, floating upright once more, badly scratched up and injured, her sharp blue eyes filled with hatred and revenge, getting ready to unleash the monstrously powerful attack. Tamar internally panicked. If he got hit by that, he'd certainly perish. And Ava was right beside him. Making a split second decision, using what little strength he had left, Tamar angled his arms back and pushed them into Ava, hopefully moving her far away enough that he wouldn't get caught up in the blast radius.

Ava, who was paralyzed in shock and fear, distracted by the attack that was about to ram into her, did not brace for Tamar's arm thrust, yelping as she was pushed a metre or two away. Thanks to being a rather light ghost and the adrenaline filled push Tamar executed, she flailed a decent distance away from him. However, still gripping onto his face as she was pushed off, her reflexes kicked in, clenching onto his cheeks and jaw, leaving deep scratches as she was shoved away. Tamar hissed in pain as he felt her fingers dig into, and drag across, his skin.

The push was not a second late, as Aspen unleashed her Sheer Cold, forcing both her hands forward and sending the light blue beam directly towards Ava. The beam was extremely bright, almost blinding Tamar as it was released. He immediately ducked and covered his face with his coat sleeves, praying that he didn't end up in some friendly fire. Ava, swinging her head towards the attack after stabilizing herself, mortifyingly saw the beam rush at great speed, seemingly picking up power as it barreled towards her. The ground underneath the beam produced sharp icicles sticking out of the ground, showcasing the freezing nature of the attack. The power of the beam had sent the snow underneath it airborne at great speed, creating something of a mini blizzard throughout the area. That's not to account for the little pieces of hail and snow that the Sheer Cold naturally manufactured. Tamar shivered at the cold, bright, wind rushed scene that was occurring beyond his sleeves. Is this what Armageddon feels like?

Now normally, Sheer Cold was a move that sacrificed accuracy for power. The beam was very prone to randomly dissipating before it hit the target, or veering off to a different direction, or something of that nature. However, with the state that Aspen was in, her sheer determination to protect Tamar?

This one was a bullseye.

Ava was crushed head-on with the attack, the beam picking her up and pounding her through the forest, before dissipating roughly 50 metres away. A horrifying sounding crunch rang through the trees as Ava crashed into one, before it followed up with a soft poof sound, which was Ava's limp body landing in the snow. Any trees that were in the beam's wake were immediately frozen from top to bottom, the pathway of the Sheer Cold leaving a straight line of icicles that formed from the ground. The snow underneath had all completely blown away, leaving the ground looking like an icicle filled trench.

Tamar slowly glanced up through his sleeves to be greeted with snow completely covering him. He was buried by snow, but he managed to escape the brunt of the attack. Shaking off the remnants of the mini blizzard, he swiveled his head to stare at Aspen, who was floating down back into the forest, seemingly going to check on Ava. Her expression was deadpan, emotionless, and completely neutral. Her eyes, however, still signified a large degree of hatred, desire for vengeance, and rage. Tamar was terrified. This wasn't the Aspen he knew, she had been totally taken over by her anger. He wanted to call out to her, ask her if she was okay, thank her for saving him, ask if she could help remove the ice blocks that still were formed on his calves. But he couldn't muster out a sound, instead just gawking at her silently float by, her eyes locked onto Ava down the path.

Aspen floated towards the groaning Ava, who was crumpled on the snow, squirming in pain, completely immobilized. Ice Types were usually immune to Sheer Cold, but the consummate power of the attack, coupled with Ava smashing through multiple trees, left her in a bad condition. Her left arm was twisted the wrong way, scratches and cuts had opened everywhere. Struggling to open her eyes, they snapped open when they saw Aspen looming over her, kimono blowing in the wind and an emotionless look painted on her face. Aspen, at this moment, wasn't feeling anything, thinking anything, or expressing anything. Her clouded mind was exclusively focused on one thing: Revenge. Ava, in her moment of agony, couldn't help but notice something. This was what all her victims saw before their death, this was the position they all found themselves in. Severely injured and staring at a Froslass…

"Aspen… I'm sorry…" Coughed out Ava, struggling to force out the words through her affliction. This was a horrible position to be in, but surely Aspen would spare her, leave her alone, tell her off with a strong warning. This was Aspen, she always reprimanded Ava for her murderous sprees.

This train of thinking came to a halt as Aspen snatched Ava's neck, slamming it down to the ground as she leaned over her. Ava's head jerked back, leaving her cringing in pain before she stared up at Aspen. With this, Ava caught a good look at her friend. She was… expressionless. There were no emotions being displayed by her. Just… Nothingness.

And it left Ava terrified.

"Aspen please… I'm-I'm sorry, I-I-I'll leave y-you guys a-alone, I'll n-never hurt h-him again!" Ava sputtered, desperate to gain the mercy of her fellow Froslass. Usually it was her who tormented, her who tortured, her who inflicted great pain upon those unlucky enough to run into her. She was not used to the tables being turned like this. She hopelessly gaped at Aspen, anticipating her eyes to soften, for her to grant her clemency. It never came.

"Yeah. You'll never mess with him again. I'll make sure of it." Aspen calmly replied, raising her left hand and letting it go translucent. Ava stared at this, eyes widening, and began to panic, thrashing about. She desperately attempted to choke out a response, desperate for some sort of leniency. Her attempts were in vain as Aspen's right hand tightened around her neck. See, there was one thing that could kill ghosts, sever their ties from the physical realm, and that was other ghosts.

"Please spare me…" Ava eventually choked out.

"And what if I don't?" Aspen coolly responded. Ava's eyes snapped open agan.

"Sorry, I guess you don't have a monopoly on morality."

* * *

Tamar grunted as he pulled himself back into an upright sitting position, brushing any sort of remaining snow off his jacket. Aspen had gone into the forest to check on Ava, a bit too far for him to see. In the meantime, he continued to work on the ice blocks that were attached to his legs. Upon closer inspection, they had a sort of purplish aura to him, which probably explains why they weren't coming off. Ava had probably pulled off some curse or something, when she eventually faints, surely they would begin to melt.

Tamar sighed. That power from Aspen… He had never seen a Pokemon pull that off before. Sure, he's watched tons of battles, and he's seen some of the most powerful Pokemon in the region display their dominance. The Champion's Garchomp, Elite Four Bertha's Rhyperior, that sort of deal. But the amount of destruction Aspen just wrought was even beyond them. The aftermath of that Sheer Cold looked like a bomb was dropped where Ava was hit. It was a small miracle that Tamar survived with no frostbite. He should buy a lottery ticket with all this luck he's recently been blessed with. Still, he didn't expect that sort of ability from Aspen. Make no mistake, he knew she was strong, everyone in her species was. But that sort of strength? On the other hand, she looked… Terrifying. Was she aware of her own power? Hell, was she even in control during all of that? The look in her eyes… Wasn't what he'd grown accustomed to.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Tamar's thoughts were interrupted by a shrill, dying scream coming from inside the woods. What the hell was that? Was that Ava? What did Aspen just do? His attention was directed towards the ice blocks on his calves.

They were beginning to melt.

* * *

The eerie silence filled the forest once more, as Aspen continued to stare down at Ava. Her left hand, which had gone translucent, was covered in a ghostly light purple liquid, much akin to a mammal's blood. Now normally, you couldn't kill ghosts. They were essentially invincible from the physical realm. You could definitely deal damage to a ghost, even make them faint, but you couldn't end their life. Well, unless you were a ghost yourself.

Aspen stared at Ava, limp and still. Her neck had been crushed. Aspen's translucent hand had buried through her neck, and crushed it with a squeeze that would've done far less damage if she was in the correct state of mind. She had killed her. In a way, Aspen had become what she swore she'd never do.

Slowly, her mind began to whir back to life.

* * *

Tamar gulped as he watched Aspen float towards him with great speed. Getting a look at her eyes, they conveyed a great contrast to when she entered the forest. Her eyes were filled with sorrow, regret, and misery. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. Bounding up to Tamar, he quickly noticed that she was indeed shedding a tear or two. Before he could ask her anything, she swung her arms around his shoulders, burying her face into his neck. Tamar jumped at the contact, her face was pretty cold on his exposed skin, but not as frigid as one would predict. Quickly picking up on her desolation, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Aspen began shedding tears once again.

"T-Tamar, I-I killed A-Ava, i-i m-murdered h-her, s-she's d-dead…" Sobbed Aspen, much to the surprise of Tamar. She murdered her? Aspen didn't murder, right? Didn't murder leave her abhorred? Unsure of what to say, he continued to let her speak as he slowly stroked her back, trying to provide any sort of comfort.

"W-what am I becoming? I n-never wanted to h-harm someone else, I don't e-even know w-what happened, it was all so c-cloudy… I d-don't want to become like my s-species Tamar, a-am I b-becoming a murder l-like the rest?"

Tamar sighed as her sobbing tears soon turned into sniffles. Her tears were, surprise, cold. He couldn't imagine how scary that must have been for her, she probably didn't even know she had that sort of power, and it led to the death of someone she knew. Sure, the aforementioned person she knew was insane and trying to murder both of them, but Aspen was probably terrified regardless.

"Aspy, you acted purely in self defence. Ava was going to kill both of us." He softly responded, continuing to keep her in a hug. Aspen sniffed.

"I had knocked her out… She b-begged for mercy, and I just… Broke her n-neck, no h-hesitation. It's e-exactly w-what she would d-do to o-others."

Tamar shook his head, before pulling Aspen away and holding her in front of him, meeting eye to eye.

"You acted like that because she was going to kill me. You saved my life for the second time. You probably saved a lot of lives in the future for what you did," reasoned Tamar, "and the fact you're so upset about what you did pretty clearly shows that you're not like the rest of your species."

Aspen shakily sighed before retracting her arms off his shoulders. He was right, Ava was going to slaughter them both, who knows what she had to store for Tamar. But what scared Aspen the most was how her brain completely drew blanks from the Sheer Cold to her snapping of Ava's neck. She wasn't in control at all, it was all instinctual rage. Would she be able to properly control her new power? What if she got enraged again? What if she took out this rage on someone else… Like Tamar…

She pushed these thoughts out of her mind. Tamar was okay. She was okay. These were the most important things.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt?" She inquired, cringing at the scratch marks that formulated on his cheeks. Tamar smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine. She left a bit of a scratch, but it's fine. My legs got frozen, but…" Tamar moved his legs around, pushing them up and down, the numb feeling almost completely gone, "I think her croaking dealt with that little problem."

Aspen sighed, slumping back into Tamar's arms. If it was any other time, she'd probably be very cognizant of the fact she was so close to him, but the recent events coupled with her exhaustion insured that wasn't the main notion on her mind. Tamar himself was still trying to properly wrap his mind around what just transpired. He had a lot of questions, a few new concerns, but the best thing he could do was be as supportive as possible. A few minutes of silence passed, both Aspen and Tamar lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Tamar sighed and used his free arm to dig back into his trench coat pockets, fishing out the Ultra Ball. Aspen blinked in surprise when she saw him unveil the sphere, shining in the direct sunlight and giving off a metallic like glow.

"Aspy, I want you to become my Pokemon and come with me back to Snowpoint. I know it's quite the request, but I figured you'd be happier out of this godforsaken tundra. And… Well, it would make me very happy too. It's totally up to you, though."

To call Aspen surprised was an understatement. She was under the assumption Tamar never owned a Pokemon. Well, she guessed she would be his first. There were a lot of questions rumbling in her mind. What was life like inside of a Pokeball? What would she even do in Snowpoint? How would she adapt? Would they battle together? How did that work? Weren't her species banned from being owned?

On the other hand, she glanced back into the forest. Towards the direction where Ava's corpse was condemned. This was a chance to leave her mundane life behind, a chance to leave the never ending slog of floating around the same landscapes, the same trees, the same mountains. Likewise, perhaps she could leave the fresh memory of his first murder in this forest, never to return. Most importantly, she'd have a purpose. Who knows what Tamar had in store for them, whether it be battling or contests or even just living together. As long as she was with him… It would be a vast improvement over her current life. Turning to face Tamar, she gave him a soft, caring smile.

"Let's do it."


	7. Restrictions

The whirring and nonstop motion of vehicles on the road was doing little to pull Tamar's mind out of it's own thoughts. Neither were the seemingly unending cavalcade of trainers and their powerful Pokemon walking by, heading towards the training club at the edge of the city to hone up on their battling skills. The only thing that could snap Tamar out of his musing was staring out at the sun slowly setting over the northern sea, partially blocked by the various cranes and ships in the Port of Snowpoint. The sky was painted in a brilliant orange, only contrasted by the puffy white clouds far up in the atmosphere. The port bustled like always, various vehicles and workers scrambling around to… Do whatever they did at the port. Something with crates? Tamar never bothered to really give it a careful inspection. The road he was strolling down, Iceway Avenue, inclined up a small hill, but still elevated enough to give stunning views over the Great Northern Sea of Sinnoh and the accompanying port below that straddled it's shoreline. He sighed before glancing at the Ultra Ball that he was tightly holding in his hand. Inside was one of the most dangerous Pokemon in the region, one that could get him into heaps of trouble.

Tamar sighed. The decision to capture Aspen was admittedly one made primarily through impulse. Although it was a pretty neat boast that he was one of the few humans on earth that had a Froslass, he lacked every piece of documentation he needed to legally own one. He was sure there was some sort of work around, maybe he'd have to meet the necessary Sinnoh government official and slip some cash under the table… Tamar peered out at the ocean for one final look, before shaking his head and continuing his trek to his apartment. Regardless, his life just got a lot more interesting...

* * *

"Welcome to the TamarCave!"

Aspen's equivalent of an eyebrow raised as she glanced around her surroundings. She had just been released from her newly minted Pokeball, and in all honesty, it wasn't as bad as she expected. There was a sort of peaceful tranquility to it, but it was simultaneously pretty hard to describe. Her body was seemingly in a state of homeostasis, complete serenity, exactly what she needed after her rage filled murder of her fellow Froslass, Ava. The apartment itself was… Quite barren. A huge 34x72 bean bag chair in the middle of what seemed to be a living area, a pretty large television on the wall, a connecting kitchen to the left, and a doorway to a room on the right. For someone like Aspen, who spent an inordinate amount of time decorating her cave, it was pretty underwhelming.

"Uhm… Pretty… uhhh…" She mumbled, much to the amused glance of Tamar, who bounded up to the TV, duffel bag in hand, and pressed the power button on the side. The duffel bag was packed with various stones and other knick knacks from Aspen's cave, which the pair stopped by before coming back to Snowpoint. Since Aspen wasn't a wild Pokemon anymore, they figured they should grab valuables from her former home to take back with them. With all these advantageous items, Tamar could be financially stable for a while. Maybe even slide a few to government officials so he could obtain an expert trainers license, so he wouldn't have to stuff Aspen in her Pokeball whenever they were out, but that was his plan B...

"Aspy, I've been out of poverty for like a week, gimme a while to fill out the place." Tamar chuckled. Suddenly, a voice boomed from the powered on TV, the voice of a woman.

"EASTERN SINNOH HAS BEEN OPPRESSED FOR TOO LONG! OUR UNIQUE CULTURE, OUR NATIONAL RESOURCES, IT'S BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BY THE JUBILIFE ELITE!"

Aspen and Tamar glazed over the television, curious to hear the origin of the bombastic speech. Tamar sighed as he placed down the duffel bag, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He knew exactly what it was, ESLF crazies screaming about some exaggerated woe that had befallen the citizens who lived on the eastern side of Coronet. Aspen, meanwhile, was intrigued. She had a very rudimentary understanding of Sinnoh geography, thanks to a map she snagged from an abandoned backpack in North Acuity, so she somewhat identified the 'Jubilife' city that was getting yelled about.

The lady on the TV was dressed in a sharp blue suit, long flowing hazel hair, wearing a peculiar looking flat cap, she looked quite young, and quite attractive. She was wearing a strong black eyeliner, bright red lipstick, and a light bit of eyeshadow. Behind her was a massive blue, green, and white tricolour flag that hung and softly fluttered in the background. Despite her youthful looking age, she had a look of steely determination, she was clearly very serious about this whole Eastern Sinnoh thing. Aspen's rudimentary analysis was interrupted by the sound of Tamar dropping the duffel bag on the ground, before he slumped into the puffy bean bag chair.

"Morons…" He only muttered, before pulling out a confusing looking object from behind the chair out of Aspen's line of sight. Aspen peered curiously at the device Tamar just retrieved, one of the most interesting things about moving into this city was all the new technology and items she was discovering. All these new commodities that she simply didn't get to experience living out in the frozen tundra.

In all honesty, her mind felt ridiculously overstimulated. While listening to the ranting lady on the TV and comprehending her new life, Aspen was trying to properly grasp what happened back in the forest, still nervous about her violent outburst. When her mind went blank, when she committed her first murder, something that she aborrhed, in dissimilarity to the rest of her species. Alas, it was probably for the best to push it to the backburner for now. As long as nobody tried to hurt Tamar, she'd probably be fine, she'd probably stay rational and in control. It still slightly frightened her how she flipped from shy, friendly anomaly to savage species stereotype in a flash. Furthermore, she unleashed a Sheer Cold. Aspen didn't even know she had that power! She knew it was a move in her arsenal, but she struggled so badly to master it that she almost never tried to utilize it. Well, she guessed that changed. It's a brutally devastating move, use outside of Pokemon battles could cause serious damage. What if she got really mad again...

Tamar caught Aspen's blank stare at his laptop and smirked. She was clearly pretty deep in thought.

"Heh, Moon Stone money helped me buy this laptop, thanks Aspy!" He cheerfully smiled, placing the minicomputer on his palms to showcase it to his Froslass. Aspen snapped out of her thoughts, before meeting Tamar's eyes and goofy grin. She couldn't help but crack into a little smile herself. For all her newfound concerns, her recently developed paranoia over power she wasn't sure she could control, her nervous anticipation for a brand new life, she still had Tamar. His stupid humour, his selflessness, despite being constantly beaten down from society, it gave her an immeasurable amount of comfort and joy. Whatever happened, they could, and would, tackle it together.

"WE CALL ON THE RULING SOCIAL DEMOCRATS TO HOLD A REFERENDUM ON THE EQUALIZATION FORMULA OF OUR NATION, THE EAST WILL NO LONGER PAY FOR THE WEST'S MISTAKES!" The woman boomed, to uproarious applause from an attentive crowd.

Aspen and Tamar's attention was snatched back by the passionate, pointedly dressed woman on TV. Aspen in particular was quite intrigued at the individual. Why was she so angry about the East? She was clearly the leader of whatever group was presenting, how did she get such a powerful position when she was seemingly so young?

"Who is that, anyway?" She inquired, pointing her fingers towards the telly. Tamar glanced up from his laptop, placing it on a small white coffee table directly in front of him. He rolled his eyes, gruffly groaning.

"That's Zahari Anev, leader of the Eastern Sinnoh Liberation Front. It's a group that wants to break Sinnoh into east and west, separate regions," explained Tamar, as he began to tap away at his laptop, "Anev was the youngest lieutenant general in Sinnoh's history, but she resigned to head up the ESLF. So obviously, a radical separatist organization being headed by someone so closely linked to Sinnoh's military has left many spooked."

Aspen blinked in confusion. She wasn't sure what a lieutenant general was, but surely it was a prestigious position if this 'Anev' individual was the youngest ever. She did have a basic understanding of the Sinnohian military however, usually spotting them doing training exercises in North Acuity. She was always intrigued by their large looking machinery, all white coats and uniforms to blend into the snow, their impressive array of Water and Ice type Pokemon they kept on hand. She always observed the various soldiers and PokeSoldiers with amusement and interest, but never communicated with them, for obvious reasons.

"Wait, why does the east want to break away?" Inquired Aspen, a bewildered look on her face. Her entire existence had been confined to a snowy forest far away from both the east and west of Sinnoh, so all this information was completely new to her. She was surprised Sinnoh was so disunited like this. Tamar scoffed.

"Too long to explain. Eastern Sinnoh definitely has some legitimate grievances, but a lot of it is… Exaggerated, should we say. Plus, since the economy has been garbage for like a decade, lot of easterners are angry, and the ESLF taps into that, giving them a scapegoat y'know?" All this drama always intrigued Tamar. He was quite knowledgeable about the political theatre of Sinnoh, informed through the newspapers he would buy from Andrei every day at the Pokemon Centre. Aspen wasn't really sure what he was talking about, economy and what not, but she was inclined to agree, simply nodding her head.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, eh?" Smirked Tamar, looking back down at his computer, scanning through something. Aspen blushed before shaking her head.

"Uh… Not especially…"

"Figured. Alright, well I'm gonna order some food, feel free to check around." Tamar responded, lifting himself up from his beanbag chair, before pulling a new device out of his pocket and strolling to the bedroom. Aspen watched him leave the living area, before turning to the laptop, her attention captured by its presence.

Aspen blinked at the warm, illuminating, yet foreign glow of the device Tamar had been using, intrigue spiking. The device, to be referred to as a "laptop," made a soft whirring sound that reverberated through her head. There, on this alien like gadget, revealed a picture of her species, along with what seemed to be a mountain of text.

"No, I said NO mushrooms, you guys always put so many on…"

Hearing Tamar from the other room, Aspen continued to peer curiously at the image on the bright screen, a picture of a Froslass executing an attack, with huge walls of text on the side. The picture of the Froslass had a red scalene triangle on its side placed in the middle, revealing that it was a video, not that Aspen knew that. On the top of the webpage was a seal of a Palkia and Dialga, surrounded by a coat of arms decorated with various colors and patterns. On the top bar beside the seal read in all caps: 'THE OFFICIAL WEBPAGE OF THE SINNOH GOVERNMENT.' Suddenly, the laptop made a noise, a robotic voice beckoning from the speakers.

" _Froslass, the Snow Land Pokemon. Classified as a Cataclysmic Pokemon via the 1983 Gabite Acts."_

Aspen jumped in surprise at the sudden voice, throwing up her hands in a fighting stance. How did it do that? She floated in front of the laptop, carefully examining it while keeping her sharp blue eyes on what may as well have been a mirror image. Cataclysmic Pokemon? That was… quite the term. How many different Pokemon could boast that description? Leaning her face into the bright white screen, she began to scan through the text. Sure, she understood human speech, like all Pokemon could, but their writing system was completely foreign to her, a confusing mishmash of symbols that she couldn't decipher to save her life. But still, if her species had THIS much written about them, they must be pretty notable. Then again, classification as "Cataclysmic" probably meant most of the text was negative. How long did this go on for, anyway?

She recalled how Tamar made the screen move. There was some sensory activated section of the laptop, directly below the buttons with the strange symbols printed on. He used two fingers on a sort of trackpad. Aspen nervously touched the bottom part of the laptop, surprised by the warmth the laptop was emitting. She heard an audible *click* sound from the trackpad, causing her to jump back in surprise again. With the mouse set on the picture of the Froslass, the video began to whir to life.

To Aspen's surprise, the image with the funny looking triangle pointed symbol, when clicked, began to play a sort of video. She leaned in, intrigue at a maximum. After a few seconds, the previously still image of one of her species faded away, cutting to a man standing in a snow covered forest, microphone in hand. The quality was rather mediocre, grainy and ragged. The man dressed in a stylish black and white suit, adorned with a cute bowtie and holding a microphone. Aspen recognized the aforementioned object he was holding, she found one in North Acuity. How it ended up there was a totally different inquiry…

" _Hello, my name is Brandon LaFell, I'm a historian from the University of Jubilife, Majority Whip of the Social Democratic Party, and Chairman for the Sinnoh Committee on Public Safety. Today, I want to announce our government's new restrictions on the Snow Land Pokemon, Froslass, and provide some justification for our actions."_

Aspen's equivalent of an eyebrow rose. Committee of what now? Social Demo-who? Whatever this guy did, it seemed rather important. And he was talking about her species. This would surely be interesting.

" _On July 5th, 1932, a group of eight miners were returning from a shift in the Oreburgh Mines. Travelling back to their hometown of Quartzville near what we now call Route 207, they were intercepted by a pair of Froslasses from Mount Coronet. With only Machops on hand, they couldn't defend themselves, and were promptly frozen to death. Pictures of their corpses were soon taken by a rescue party, showing their grave, tragic fates."_

Suddenly, pictures of the attack flashed across the screen, displaying the grizzly fates of the miners and their Machops. Although the photographs were plastered in black and white, Aspen could still clearly see their faces of torment and agony, terror permanently etched on their expressions, frozen in time. One particularly morbid photograph showed a miner shielding his collapsed Machop, surrounded in a thick block of ice. And although the picture was quite grainy, Aspen could see a bone ripped out of his back and sticking out of the ice. She figured it was his spine.

Aspen couldn't help but cringe. This was exactly what she was so afraid of, she desperately didn't want to become a monster like the rest of her species, a creature whose bloodthirst would only be quenched by the blood of the innocent. She wasn't sure why she was more pacifist, more reflective, and more introspective than other Froslasses, but it was a privilege that she perilously wished to hold. Visions of the corpse of Ava still haunted her, and this video of how horrifically brutal her species was definitely wasn't helping.

" _This is not the first instance of great devastation wrought by this species. Hundreds have been reported missing in Sinnoh's north, many of which are attributed to the Froslass. Last month's… Tragic events on Jubilife TV has signaled a key priority to regulate this Pokemon as soon as possible, to hopefully terminate these grievous acts. As such, the government of the Sinnoh Republic has officially designated Froslass as a 'cataclysmic Pokemon.' With this new designation, certain requirements are necessary to catch and possess one. Failure to adhere will result in hefty fines and jail time."_

Hefty fines? Jail time? Aspen gulped. Sounded like some very harsh punishment for those without the qualifications. She wasn't sure what a "jail" was, but it definitely didn't sound pleasant. Although the restrictions did make sense, nobody was more aware of her species and their brutality than her. Another question edged into her mind, did Tamar have the proper documentation? She sunk into the oversized bean bag chair, an expression of worry etched into her face. She didn't want to get him in trouble…

"Alright, I just ordered a pizza, wait till you try this stuff, it's incredible," Whistled Tamar, sauntering into the living room, before peering towards Aspen staring at his computer.

"Whatcha watching there, Aspy?" He inquired, much to Aspen's surprise and embarrassment.

"Uh… I'm not sure, something about Sinnoh and restrictions and, uh…" She stumbled, slightly jolted at his sudden appearance, was she allowed to mess around with his computer like this? It looked pretty fancy… She blushed and sunk into the bean bag, abashed.

"Ah yes, the expert trainers license I'm tryna get, yeah, I'm gonna have to find a work around for that…" Tamar sheepishly chuckled. Aspen's eyes widened with shock.

"Wait, do you need that to own a cataclysmic Pokemon? You caught me and brought me to Snowpoint and don't have it? Isn't that dangerous? Won't you get in trouble? How do you ge-"

Her flabbergasted rambling was interrupted as Tamar backed up and flopped into the bean bag right beside her, causing her light spectre frame to bounce upwards, much like a trampoline. Aspen squealed as she was sent airborne, before plopping down right beside Tamar, somewhat snuggled into his side. Realizing the position she was in and how close she was in proximity to him, sent her already anxious brain into melty overdrive. Frozen in embarrassment and a little bit of fear, her arm landed directly across his chest, like she was giving him a hug. Why was his chest so strong? Aspen could feel her face go completely red as her ghostly equivalent to a heart began pounding like a drum. Tamar, for his efforts, was completely oblivious to the sheer embarrassment that he just handed to her, a big grin engraved on his face.

"Don't worry Aspy, I did my research, I got a plan." He smirked. Aspen could feel herself faintly dying on the inside, as their faces were merely inches apart. Did he not realize how close they were? She was pretty much cuddling him. Some very… Interesting ideas began popping into her brain, before she forcefully pushed them out. Her face blushed badly at the aforementioned thoughts, which would be pretty evident to anyone but Tamar, who had the romantic intelligence of a walnut.

Tamar grunted as he snatched the laptop from the table, slightly lifting himself off the bean bag, causing Aspen to tighten her arm to ensure she wouldn't slip off him. Sinking back in, he rested the device on his chest, moving it at such an angle where Aspen could see it as well. Aspen herself slightly floated upwards and retracted her arm off his chest, not wanting to give him the… wrong idea, totally unbeknownst to Tamar, who pulled up a new tab in the search engine.

"There are some workarounds, especially in the research field. I just need to make an appointment with an old friend…" Calmly remarked Tamar, typing "University of Snowpoint faculty" into the laptop.


	8. Professor

The bustling activity of the huge glass abutting hallway provided ample roadblock to Tamar, as he dipped and dodged through a procession of college students. He grumbled as he continued to push against the grain, occasionally getting bumped or pushed out of the way. Tamar specifically picked this time to arrive at the University of Snowpoint, because he knew the researcher/professor he sought just dismissed his class. Hopefully he could catch him before he scurried off to do… Whatever it was that he did. The University itself was modern and clean, glass walls, various small shops and coffee joints hung out on the sides. Fold out tables with students pitching their various fraternities, Pokemon fanclubs, and organizations also dotted the hallway, trying to shout for attention above the busy bustle of the passage.

Tamar flicked his eyes upwards to a sign hanging above, directing the various locations of lecture halls throughout this particular wing of the building. Room 234… Directly to his right. The trench coat adorned Tamar hit a quick right down a smaller, thinner hallway, with a large double door at the very end. Walking with an increased pace, he hustled towards the double doors, hoping his intended target was still meandering about in the hall. Maybe he was held up by some inquisitive students. The University of Snowpoint, or UofS for short, was an impressive facility for a city so far away and isolated from the rest of the region. With the remarkable growth of Snowpoint's shipping industry after the collapse of the Sinnoh People's Republic, the booming population called for a new post-secondary space, and the UofS fulfilled this necessity. It was one of the largest universities in Sinnoh, and it had a knack for attracting the best faculty to teach there, competitive pay and what not. This worked out fantastically for Tamar, since he learned a certain professor taught at this university, one that could help him obtain the necessary permits to own Aspen.

He arrived at the oak infused double doors, quickly pushing them aside to reveal a large lecture hall that reminded more of a small theatre. Two large screens hung at the farthest wall high up, with 300-400 seats facing them. The hall had a gradual decline down a set of stairs before reaching a flattened out area at the bottom, with a large laminated desk placed smack dab in the middle. At the desk stood three individuals, deep in conversation. Their discussion was interrupted by the sound of the oak doors at the top of the staircase opening, and Tamar stumbled through, before he leaned against a wall, panting to catch his breath. He glanced down at the three individuals staring up at him at the bottom of the staircase, slightly embarrassed that he interrupted their conversation by essentially charging through the doors.

"Can I help you?" Called out one of the persons at the bottom of the staircase, infused with a slightly annoyed tone. Made sense, his conversation was impeded upon. He was dressed in a bright white lab coat, blue jeans, and thick black lensed glasses. His deep dark melanin filled skin was a direct contrast to the two people beside him, who were both caucasian. Tamar smirked, he was exactly who he was looking for.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a guy named Augustin, have you seen him?" He called out, before beginning to clamour down the stairs. The dark skin professor groaned loudly, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

"Please do not address me by my first name, you are to refer to me as Professor Makosso, it's quite ru-"

He stopped himself, eyes squinting. He recognized that voice, and he recognized that figure that was pacing down the stairs. In fact, he recognized him quite well. It couldn't be, they were so far from Veilstone, and he hadn't heard from him in a while. But as the mystery figure finished descending the last few steps and pulled down his mask, his surprised suspicions were realized.

"Tamar? Is that you?"He asked. Tamar smirked as he strolled towards the professor, not noticing or recognizing the two notable individuals to his right.

"Look at you August, became a professor and now you think you're all hot shit!" Laughed Tamar, as he raised his arm looking for a big secret handshake. Augustin shot a massive grin before quickly pacing towards his old friend, instead draping him into a friendly hug.

"Yeah, cuz I am, unlike you. Good to see you again, Big T!"

The two grinned at each other, before smacking their knuckles together in a dap-like motion. Unbeknownst to them, the gruff and serious sounding figure who August was previously conversing with cleared his throat, before speaking.

"Augustin, do you know this person?"

Augustin turned around to face the figure, before nodding. Tamar also rotated to see the origin of the voice, before his eyes went huge with shock. Just a few feet away stood Pokemon Professor Rowan, his arms crossed and eyes as rigid and firm as one could imagine. Professor Rowan was the top professor in the region, one of it's most famous celebrities, a representative for Sinnoh as a whole. His study on evolution was highly regarded throughout the world. As the top Pokemon Professor in the region, he was also tasked with handing out the starter Pokemon to new trainers. For lack of a better phrase, he was a massive deal. One could simply turn on his TV to see Rowan, on news channels or his own personal network. Behind him was a young looking woman bundled up in a bright pink jacket, white beanie, white scarf, holding what appeared to be a mini duffel bag, covered in, keeping with the theme, white and pink. Tamar quickly recognized her as Dawn, the professor's top assistant and an acclaimed trainer in her own right.

"Yup! This is Tamar, one of my closest friends. Tamar, this is Professor Rowan and his assistant, Dawn." Augustin replied, slightly nudging his friend with his elbow. Tamar, still slightly star struck from the duo standing across from him, snapped into reality and gingerly held out his arm. Professor Rowan gave him a small smile before clasping his hand with his, engaging a firm handshake. Tamar was taken aback by the strong grip of the Pokemon Professor, he was still very tough in his advanced age. He gulped, before introducing himself.

"Um… hello… my name is Tamar Kameāloha, it's an honour, sir."

"Kameāloha? Fascinating, there aren't that many Alolans here in Sinnoh," stated Rowan, his powerful and gruff voice reverberating throughout the lecture hall. Tamar awkwardly chuckled before sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"Haha… Yeah… My dad is from the Orange Islands, but I was born here…" The Orange Islands were colonized by Alolans hundreds of years ago, and used to be a part of the Great Alola Empire of yonder year. As a result, the two were extremely similar, down to language, culture, and surnames. Kanto-Johto invaded and conquered the islands years ago, which explained why Tamar's paternal family fled to Sinnoh.

"I see." Rowan calmly replied. After exchanging identical pleasantries with Dawn, a temporary silence descended upon the foursome, before Tamar spoke.

"I'm deeply sorry for interrupting your conversation, it was quite rude of me."

"No, that's fine, we were leaving anyway." Dawn responded, picking up a stack of papers from the desk and placing them into her duffel bag. Rowan nodded in affirmation.

"Yes, unfortunately, we are running short for time. Can I expect those reports from you, Professor Makosso?"

"Of course sir, you can expect them faxed within the day." Augustin quickly replied. Professor Rowan nodded, before turning around to walk out the exit of the hall.

"Excellent. It's always a pleasure, Mr Makosso. And it was nice to meet you, Mr. Kameāloha," Rowan exclaimed, before beginning to move out of the hall alongside Dawn. Tamar, still slightly starstruck and incredulous that he just met the famous, acclaimed top professor of the region, stumbled out a response.

"Y-Yes, you too, sir!"

The duo moved through the exit, and disappeared through the doorway. After a few seconds of watching them leave, Augustin turned around with a massive smirk on his face.

"So, how's it been going, T?"

* * *

Tamar always knew that Augustin would do spectacular things in his life, and his office clearly revealed that he fulfilled that promise. The walls were adorned with a stunning display of plaques, awards, laminated and framed research papers, and certificates. A massive custom shaped arch window adorned the left wall, lighting up the office in natural light. An imposing stonecut statue of a shiny red Gyarados loomed in the farthest northeast corner of the room, surrounded by an impressive array of cabinets and filing boxes. These boxes were a prevailing theme in the room, strown about on nearly every surface that could hold them, yet still organized in a way that made the office look open and breezy, not cluttered. The magnum opus of the office, however, was the gorgeous elongated oak desk, shining a fabulous dark brown colour. The room was large and spacious, a clear indication of Augustin's significance to the university. Tamar flumped into a cushioned chair directly across his friend's desk, glancing around the office, impressed.

"Damn August, impressive…" He remarked. Augustin, bounding up to him with two beers in hand, laughed.

"Thanks man, I try," he replied, handing one of the pre opened beers over to Tamar, who eagerly grabbed it before giving him an appreciative nod, "so how have you been, T? It's been years since school."

"Shit, not as good as you, clearly. It hasn't been easy, but it's looking up now."

"Really? What's been going on?" Inquired Augustine as he sat back into his seat, pushing away some papers on his desk with a firm swinging motion. Tamar groaned, taking a healthy sip of his alcoholic beverage before continuing.

"It's been tough, I've been homeless for the last little while, I got a-"

"What?! Homeless? How? T, why didn't you come and talk to me? You could've crashed at my place for a bit! Are you all good?" Interrupted Augustin, concern dripping from his voice. Tamar was slightly touched from his belated offer. Augustin was always a great guy, one of the few people he could actually trust, although he had no idea he taught at the University of Snowpoint before he looked it up. Then again, he probably wouldn't have taken him up on his offer, he hated being a burden to other people.

"You know damn well there's no jobs out here, also I didn't know you became a professor in Snowpoint, I thought you'd just teach at UofV or something!" Tamar replied, UofV being a short form for the University of Veilstone, the biggest school in the east and based in the city where the duo grew up in. Augustin snorted.

"Hell no, Veilstone got way too many ESLF crazies running around nowadays, plus Snowpoint paid way more!"

"Typical Auggy, whoring out for money," grinned Tamar, much to the sheepish chagrin of Augustin, who rolled his eyes and leaned back into his chair.

"Man, shut the hell up T, always running that mouth of yours." Taking another large swig of his beer, Tamar smirked.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Anyway, what do I even call you now? Professor Makosso? Augustin the Professor? Augustin Makosso, researcher extraordinaire?"

"Just call me August," he affirmed, sipping from his glass bottle held tightly in his hand before breaking out into another grin, "so why ya here, anyway? Did you just pull up to get a free beer, you broke ass motherfucker?"

Tamar laughed at his friend's prodding. The two had developed a strong rapport based mainly on mockery and insulting each other. Their insults always had the context of companionship, of course. They were inseparable while in school, always joined at the hip. In reality, August was the singular person Tamar could absolutely rely on, what with his dad leaving and his relationship with his mother incredibly strained. It also was an asset that Augustin was an absolutely brilliant individual, masked by his joking personality. He became the youngest university professor and Pokemon researcher in the region's history at the age of 18. Also significant was his existence as a successful, intelligent black man in a place like Sinnoh, a place dominated by those of paler skin. An example: Every Gym Leader and Elite Four member in Sinnoh is white. It only emphasized the outstanding accomplishments of his friend. It was also a pretty significant factor on why they bonded so closely as kids, Tamar and Augustin were usually the only people of colour in their classes, so it made sense they were drawn together.

"I wouldn't want your pity beers, even if I was still homeless and broke, asshole," avowed Tamar, rolling his eyes, "I'm here cuz I need your help."

August raised an eyebrow at Tamar's explanation, intrigue filling through his body.

"Really now? Well, what can I do for you?"

"Well, I looked up what you're researching, and it's shiny Pokemon, right?" Tamar asked, affirmed by a quick nod from Augustin. "Well, what about them?"

"Uh, I'm working on a theory that shiny Pokemon are actually stronger than non-shiny, cuz of time based adaptation and all that."

"Right, it's called Vespiquen Theory, correct?" Tamar replied, followed by another Augustin nod, before the researcher grinned, ready to sprout into a fresh new set of exposition.

"Yeah, so you know how like a Vespiquen is supposed to look like a big Combeehive, right? That's meant for predators that are a bit hard of sight, like Ursaring. Cuz they're not gonna fuck with what they think is a big ass beehive, they know better than that. But a shiny Vespiquen is bright red, coupled with the natural honey aroma they produce that the Ursaring can pick up on, and they're absolutely getting attacked. Same deal with other honey horny 'Mons, like Heracross.

So as a shiny Vespiquen, you're getting drawn into battles way more than if you were a normal one. And y'know, with way more battles comes more experience, more experience comes more moves, more moves means you're more strong, you get what I'm saying? Not only that, but species adaptation can take hold too. Let's say a shiny Vespiquen has had to deal with an increased number of long range special attacks. Well, it only makes sense that it's special defence would be stronger than a normal member of her species, right? Adaptation, all that crazy shit.

So when it's time for mating, Mrs Red Vespaquin passes on these traits and qualities to her offspring, and since she produces like 300 Combees in her life, one of them could be a shiny, 1-in-500 chance. So the shiny Combee inherits the traits, but only the shiny, not it's regular offspring. Not sure why that is, we're still researching that. But regardless, the cycle continues. That's my theory, at least. I'm still in the process of gathering data."

Tamar slowly nodded as he processed the big wall of information that Augustin just dropped on him. On a basic level, it made sense. Famous biologist Chuck Darword's theory of adaptation stated that every species, human or Pokemon, adapted to their environment and passed those traits onto their offspring. This was essentially the same principle that Augustin was using for shinies. It would be a big breakthrough if he could provide a link between shiny Pokemon and increased strength, usually shinies were just seen as interesting anomalies that didn't differentiate from their normal coloured counterparts. Still, Tamar needed to pry for more information, to see if his big master plan could be pulled off.

"So what does your research consist of?"

"Well, we measure the attacking power of a shiny versus a non-shiny, their defences, that sort of thing. We have a big lab downstairs, but I personally conduct my research at the battle club at the edge of town, the kiddies love seeing the different shinies we trot out, sometimes Candice pulls up too…" Augustin trailed off, staring at a stack of his papers absentmindedly. He had clearly tuckered himself out after his huge speech. After a few silent seconds, Tamar cleared his throat before continuing.

"Well, uh, I happen to have a unique shiny, and I wondered if I could help you ou-"

"Really?!" Augustin interrupted, his eyes glowing with excitement and enthusiasm. He thrusted himself out of his chair, smacking his palms on his desk and leaning over. "Shinies are SO fucking hard to find man, any new shiny that isn't a common like a Bidoof would help like crazy!"

Tamar weakly grinned at his friend's enthusiasm. Shinies were a pain to find, your odds to find one was always astronomically low. Additionally, any trainer that came across a shiny probably wasn't going to donate it to a university for research purposes. Shinies were fantastic to flex with. He sighed.

"Yeah… But the catch is… It's a cataclysmic."

Augustin's previous expression of overwhelming anticipation quickly morphed into one of utter bewilderment and shock. He slowly slumped back in his chair, staring at his friend with a confused look in his face. Tamar could almost read what his mind was saying to him, something along the lines of _'Is this dude serious?'_

"I'm sorry… You caught a caty?"

"Mhm."

"Bonded with a caty?"

"Yup."

"And you're not fuckin' dead?"

"Do I look dead to you?"

Augustin starred up towards his ceiling in amazement. His brain was working on overdrive. How was any of that possible? How the fuck was Tamar not dead? Cataclysmics were called cataclysmics for a reason, they fought to KILL. He guessed his pal's historically shitty luck was turning around. Another thought clinged in Augustin's mind. He had never researched a cataclysmic before. What an incredible opportunity that would be! But who was to say he wouldn't become a casualty, a tale of an over-ambitious researcher gone awry?

"I can show you, I've got it's Pokeball right here." Calmly remarked Tamar, fishing into his trench coat pocket before grabbing the Ultra Ball in question, brandishing it to Augustin. His professor friend's face was an amusing smorgasbord of excitement, fear, curiosity, and shock. Was there really a cataclysmic Pokemon in that ball? He glanced up at Tamar in amazement. Maybe he was just fucking with him? Tamar would occasionally pull pranks like that.

"And the Pokemon in there won't brutally slaughter the both of us, right?"

"I promise."

"Ahhhhhh c'mon, you're fucking with me right now, probably a Shinx in there or some shit," reasoned Augustin, throwing his hands into the air, "I'd still like to see it, even if you are a bullshitter."

Tamar smirked. Augustin was in for the surprise of his life.

"I'm not bullshitting. You can call out one of your Pokemon for defensive purposes, if it makes you feel better."

Augustin paused, before sighing. It would provide a bit of comfort to him, to have a backup option, just in case. This was of course based on the implication that Tamar wasn't pulling a fast one on him, which he still suspected. Regardless, it'd be smart to have some protection, just in case he was being sincere and was dense enough to catch a cataclysmic.

"Fine," he grumbled, digging into his lab coat pockets before grabbing a normal red pokeball, "come out, Hive!"

A bright flash emitted from the ball towards the side of Augustin's desk, quickly dissipating to display a shiny Vespiquen, floating in midair, wings flapping about. Her arms were crossed and eyes steely and determined, before identifying Tamar and smiling.

"Ayyy, Hive is still around? That's awesome, good to see ya, Hive!" Remarked Tamar, gesturing towards the Beehive Pokemon. Hive herself nodded, she knew Tamar as Augustin's friend from way back when. She was his first capture, acquired while on a school research project in Eterna Forest, a shiny Combee which sparked Augustin's fascination with shinies.

"Of course I wouldn't get rid of Hive, dumbass, she's my first Pokemon. But forget that, let's see this supposed cataclysmic shiny you got."

Tamar nodded, before swinging around the room to check for gaps. The blinds to the office were closed, the large window was way too high up for anyone to see, and it was just him, Augustin, and Hive. He sighed deeply before clutching onto his Ultra Ball. Well, here goes nothing.

'Come out, Aspy!"

Another great bright flash emitted from the ball, and the overall temperature of the room seemed to drop a small bit. Augustin immediately recognized the figure of the bright white silhouette that was forming beside Tamar, but his brain couldn't quite comprehend it. _'No fucking way,'_ he thought to himself.

Aspen squinted as she slowly opened her eyes, covering her mouth with her left hand. She quickly scanned around her surroundings, there was a desk, window, lots of paper, Tamar beside her, and an utterly terrified looking human across from him. Before the pair left his apartment, he let her know that she would meet an old pal of his. Was that the friend Tamar had primed her to meet? She wasn't sure about this first introduction, he didn't look too good, like he saw a ghost or something…

"YO, WHAT THE FUCK," gasped Augustin, before he desperately ducked under his desk in sheer terror, stumbling off his chair and hitting the ground with a solid thud. Tamar couldn't help but laugh, before turning around to spot an equally shocked looking Hive, unsure whether she should unleash an attack or stay stationary. Her arms were up in a defensive stance, ready to spring into action. A look of terror was etched on her face as well. Aspen felt herself blush badly, not the greatest first impression. She stayed completely still, only moving from slightly floating up and down, not to make any sudden movements to trigger something bad. Tamar quickly raised his hand and pushed out his palm towards Hive, hoping to prevent any preemptive fear based attack from her. It seemed to work, as Hive nervously dropped out of a battle stance, staring at the Froslass in amazement. Tamar only glanced down at Augustin, who was cowering underneath the desk.

"Calm down August, she's not gonna harm anyone. She's super friendly, never hurt a soul." Augustin nervously peered over his desk, his body shaking in panic. Only his forehead and eyes could be seen beyond the edge.

"THIS MOTHERFUCKER BROUGHT A WHOLE ASS FROSLASS INTO MY OFFICE!" He yelped, grabbing a binder from the desk and holding it up to cover his face. Was Tamar on drugs? Was he trying to kill him? How did he get a Froslass into a Pokeball? How did he meet one and not die? Tamar groaned before shushing the quivering Augustin.

"Shut the fuck up man, I can't let anyone else know I have her with me!" Aspen sheepishly sighed, before figuring that she should probably say something. This human, Augustin, his reaction wasn't completely unfounded, she was well aware of her species and its affinity for bad things.

"I'm not dangerous, I promise." She stated, understood by Hive and Tamar, but not Augustin, who simply just heard PokeSpeak. But the gentle and calming tone of her voice slightly alleviated his anxiety, and he slowly peered over the desk, placing the binder back onto the desk. His eyes widened considerably when he got a good look at the Froslass that was floating in his office. Her bow wrapped around her kimono was bright pink, which indicated that she was indeed a shiny. Augustin slowly pulled himself up to his chair, jaw unhinged. Had anyone ever captured a shiny Froslass? Nobody had ever studied one. A perplexing mix of terror, amazement, and curiosity battled throughout his body, reaching a sort of symbiosis that allowed him to let his guard down. But any attempts to speak only squeaked out silence. After another couple of seconds, Aspen's attention was pulled towards the Vespiquen floating towards her, hand extended outwards. Much to her surprise, she was shiny like her.

"Um, hi, my name is Hive, nice to meet you…" The Vespiquen awkwardly stumbled. Aspen smiled at her politeness, extending out her own hand, before Hive quickly retracted hers, eyes flushed with terror. Aspen blinked in surprise, before realizing that she was probably afraid of getting frozen. Froslasses couldn't freeze with their touch, but so many rumours and sensationalist stories existed surrounding her species, that it wasn't surprising that Hive thought she could.

"Don't worry, I can regulate my body temperature, I can't, and won't, freeze you." Hive slowly nodded, satisfied with that reply, before she turned to check on the status of her trainer, who looked like he was going to hurl. Tamar continued to laugh at his friend's terror, before beginning to snap his fingers.

"Yo August, back to reality, buddy."

Augustin blinked before shaking his head, still dazed at the sudden pump of adrenaline he got for a solid 30 seconds. He couldn't believe his luck. A shiny Froslass? Not only could that provide him with amazing research towards his theory, but it was also quite the attention grabber. In reality, scientific research like his could get far more funding and recognition with more unique Pokemon being used. Nobody really cared about if a shiny Starly could use Wing Attack better than it's normal counterparts, but people would DEFINITELY pay attention to a shiny Froslass.

"I… Just… Wow... Tamar, that's incredible, h-how did you catch that? How is she friendly?" Tamar shrugged.

"Long story. But do you see what I need?"

"Uh… Not quite…"

"Well, I need an Expert Trainers Licence. Or any kind of authority to possess a cataclysmic Pokemon. I gave it a look, and I think we can help each other out here."

Augustin slowly nodded, getting a grasp of what Tamar was proposing. One of the work arounds on possessing cataclysmic was an exception directed towards the scientific community. Basically, you were permitted to own a cataclysmic Pokemon if approved by a high level university researcher… Like Augustin. The Pokemon also had to contribute to some scientific research of some kind. This rule was introduced through the government thanks to the urging of Professor Rowan, who wanted to analyze the mating patterns of the Hippowdon, who was registered as a cataclysmic thanks to its violent temperament. Clearly, Tamar wanted to tap into this exception.

"I see what you're getting at here. You wanna invoke the research exception, eh? Makes sense, you can be booked for years in prison if you're caught hauling that Froslass around." Augustin remarked, keeping his eyes on Aspen's shiny pink bow, much to her embarrassment.

"Yeah, which is why I don't appreciate you shrieking like a fucking Exploud when you saw her, I'm tryna keep this on the down low."

"Hey, in my defence, you called out a Froslass into my office. Of course I was gonna be startled," grumbled Augustin, "But I can definitely get you that exception, gimme like a day. Additionally, you can become my assistant, so you can get some money for helping out with my research."

"In just a day? How so fast?" Inquired Tamar. Augustin dismissively waved his hand.

"I know the Member of Parliament for East Snowpoint, and in turn she knows the administrators who deal with this sort of shit. I'll just wire her some money to hurry up the process. Gotta help out the homie Big T, y'know?"

Tamar beamed. He couldn't believe his luck when he found out his friend worked in Snowpoint, now he could do whatever he wanted with Aspen without the fear of severe reprisal. His attention was on the Singles Tournament… Maybe he could ask Aspen if she was interested, tap into some of that power realized in the North Acuity Forest, only if she wanted to, though. He wasn't the type to force her into something that made her uncomfortable… His thoughts were interrupted by Augustin, who had turned to Aspen.

"Uh, sorry for screaming back there. I'm Augustin, I'm a professor who specializes in shiny Pokemon. I would love to see the power of your attacks, defences, stuff like that, if that's alright with you."

Aspen smiled at his courtesy, before nodding, giving her approval. Not only would Tamar get the necessary approval for her to be around, but she could also train her attacks, see if she could reel in some of the power that she tapped into when battling Ava. If she could secure her Sheer Cold, perfect Shadow Ball, and maybe learn a few other moves, it would go a long way in solving her anxiety over whether she could contain her strength. Augustin grinned at her response, before motioning to Hive to pick up a backpack that was sitting leaned up against the wall, filled with a camera, papers, and other objects relating to the study of the theory named after her. She nodded, and buzzed over to retrieve it.

"Nice! Well, let's make our way down to the battle club, get started with our research." Augustin announced, standing up from his desk before digging into his pocket. Tamar raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, should I recall Aspen?"

"She can stay out of her ball, I can tell officers that you're my research assistant and that we're running an experiment. She'll get some stares, but you can keep her outside," Augustin replied, before grabbing another Pokeball from his pocket and tossing it into the air, "Come out, Gearboy!"

Another flash emerged, and soon dissipated to reveal a set of gears, each gear with a face. It was the Unovan Pokemon, Klink. Unova Pokemon, thanks to the dominant cultural outreach of the Unova Republic, were pretty commonly known throughout the world, and the infamous Klink was one of them. The absurdity of living gears was not lost on many. However, that was not the reason why Tamar and Aspen both started snickering, much to the confusion of Augustin.

"What's so funny?"

"Gearboy? You named a Pokemon Gearboy?" Tittered Tamar, covering his mouth with his hand. Aspen was doing the same, finding the nickname kind of hilarious. Gearboy? What the hell is a 'Gearboy?' Augustin rolled his eyes.

"Piss off Tamar, don't hate on Gearboy, nobody can synthesize information better," he explained. Gearboy was his partner when it came to his research, as it could connect directly to computers and insert information collected from sensors measuring the power of attacks, stuff like that.

Hive tossed the backpack to Augustin, who was staring unimpressed at the pair. Gearboy, who didn't understand things like 'emotion' and 'comedy' had no reaction.

"Alright, if you two are done, can we please get going now?"

* * *

Zahari Anev started at the map, her gaze unblinking. One hand was clasped onto the edge of the table, the other on a cigar she was holding in her mouth. The map had a variety of red pins that were located on some of the biggest cities of Sinnoh. One pin on Oreburgh City, one on Eterna City, one on Jubilife, but the largest pin, covered in a bright green colour, was on top of Snowpoint City. The city itself was circled in red marker, with the words beside it: SINGLES TOURNAMENT IN 3 WEEKS.

"Commander Anev, our agents have returned from Floaroma Town, they describe the mission as a great success!" A male voice beckoned from beyond the dimly lit dark room that Anev was standing in. Anev, still staring at the map, pulled the cigar out of her mouth.

"Good. The Fuego Ironworks is the ultimate symbol of western decadence, I'm glad it's been put out of action," she replied, before a small grin crossed on her face, "Tell them that their rest will be short, we must depart to Snowpoint with haste, we have a tournament to announce ourselves at."


End file.
